Secrets in the Circus
by Oh-snap-moron-ballet-mafia
Summary: This is from one of my what ifs and people wanted me to expand on it so here it is. This starts off in a circus where the cast of Princess Tutu have remarkable abilities, some can even do magic. Duck is part girl part duck and she and her firends go on adventure to find the answer to her past and the past of the kingdom. Sort of steam punk styled. (I'll try my best)
1. Chapter 1

So, here is the first part one of my suggested fan fics. This one seemed to be the fan favorite so here it is. Now, I don't really know exactly what steam punk is or how to do it exactly but I'm going to try it. If I botch it up please tell me and explain to me exactly what I'm doing wrong. So...enjoy. (Please don't kill me)

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Chapter 1

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

She was scared. She was always scared. She didn't know why but she knew she was. She had done the same thing her entire life and yet even now she could feel the butterflies flipping in her stomach as she waited for the smoke to burst and the light to blind her.

She was Duck, part girl and part bird. You can guess what bird she was and you can bet it mixed in with her personality. She was shy and skiddish. She could never talk to anyone without her oldest friend, Rue, by her side and she could never look anyone in the eye. Her least favorite part of everyday was the show, the endless taunting from normal teenagers, the blinding lights from the big top, and the horrible words of Drosselmeyer, the ringmaster. He was always yelling at her and putting her in her place even when she never stepped out of it and he scared her even more than the crowds of wide-eyed on lookers.

She was the main attraction at the Circus of Wonders. She was a one of a kind wonder with feathers for hair that went all the way down her back and two small yellow wings that jutted from her upper back. She was made to wear a cream colored halter top that tied around the back of her neck and right below her wings so that they weren't hidden. She also wore a faded pink skirt that had long feathers poking out over the top of it. She was skinny and short for her age and if you didn't know she was 15 you would have thought she was 12. All the other performers thought of her as a younger sister especially Rue.

Rue was the fortune teller and Duck's closest friend. Rue had been with her for as long as she could remember and she was always trying to help Duck fight her fears. Rue did all she could to comfort her when the normal children teased her or when Drosselmeyer abused her and it was because of Rue that Duck could find the strength to continue.

Duck had a few other friends but they weren't as kind as Rue. There was Pique who had the ability to transport things or make things disappear or even create portals to other places and she and Duck had an act together. Liliae was super flexible. She could bend her body into positions that shouldn't be plausible or capable for the normal human but this circus wasn't for the normal human. Then there was Mytho. He had no emotion and he couldn't die. It always confused Duck how he could be standing in front of her and not be killed by…almost anything. She once over heard that he didn't have a heart but she didn't understand how that was possible.

She sat silently, waiting for her cue and she thought of all these things. She wasn't sure why it bugged her so much but it did and she wanted to know the answers. Soon she heard the change in mechanical music and Pique say her magical words.

"Vocidy-romady! Turn this duck into a girl!" she called and the smoke exploded around Duck.

She waited a few seconds then stood up and looked at her body as if she had never seen it before.

"Quack!" she said and looked at Pique confused.

"Hello little duck. How do you like your new body?" Pique asked as she helped Duck walk forward.

"I…I…like…it," Duck said, pretending to struggle with the words.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Duck, half girl and half duck!" Pique said proudly. "Bow Duck, like this."

She showed Duck how to bow and she copied, slowly bending her body so she didn't fall. She heard the claps and her nerves got the better of her. She nearly fell forward and she hid behind Pique.

"Oh, Duck it's okay. They won't hurt you," Pique said reassuringly.

"How do you know!?" a voice called from the stands followed by several other people laughing.

"You do and I'll send you to the other side of this world," Pique said. "I've done it before and I'll do it again."

"Yeah right! I'll believe it when I see it!" the voice called again.

"Come on Duck, let's let Mytho and Liliae take the show the rest of the way," Pique said.

She raised her hand and brought it down quickly. Duck and Pique vanished in a puff of smoke and standing in their place was a small blonde haired girl next to a tall white haired young man.

Pique and Duck soon reappeared in a back tent and Duck hugged the pink haired girl.

"I don't like this," she said as she felt hot tears build up in her eyes.

"I know, but we have to do this or you know what will happen," Pique said and pealed the somewhat shorter girl away. "I don't understand why Drosselmeyer seems to hate you so much but I'm glad he doesn't take anything out on me."

Duck knew what Pique meant. She usually said things like that but it wasn't meant to be mean, she just didn't think before she spoke and so she usually said some insensitive things. She did it to everyone, even Drosselmeyer but like she said, she never got in trouble for it. Duck didn't think it was fair how she was always Drosselmeyer's scapegoat and she didn't like it at all. Life for Duck was hard but she was always able to find comfort in her dreams and imagination.

"Duck, are you okay?" Rue asked, rushing into the room.

"Uh-huh," she said and wiped a rogue tear off her cheek.

"I don't understand why those people are so mean to you all the time," she said and hugged Duck. "I just hope that once you get older you won't be frightened so much."

"I'm sorry Rue, I tried but…I can't help it," Duck said.

"It's not your fault Duck. Remember nothing is your fault," Rue said and looked into Duck's big blue eyes. "Soon your life will change. You will meet someone who will give you more strength than you can imagine and he will help you through the hard times without fail."

"He?" Pique asked. "She's gonna meet a guy or are you talking about Mytho?"

"What?" Rue asked as she looked up. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, she just had one of her flash forward episodes," Pique said and rolled her eyes. "Duck, don't pay attention to what she just said, she doesn't even know what she just said."

"I know that," Duck said.

"What did I say?" Rue asked.

"Something about Duck meeting some guy who will help her through hard times or something like that. I wasn't really paying attention to the first half," Pique said and shrugged. "Well, I'm gonna go before anything else weird or not happens."

"We'll see you around Pique," Rue said and watched as Pique left.

"Rue?"

"Yes, Duck?"

"Do you really think my life will change?" Duck asked.

"I think it's a possibility," she said and grinned at the bird-girl.

"Not unless you live for another hundred years," a voice boomed from behind them.

They turned to see Drosselmeyer standing there, blocking the entrance. He had long, completely white hair that curled just like his long beard and large piercing eyes that could see right into anyone. He had a tall black top hat with several differently colored feathers sticking out of the brim and a big dark red cape. He had a dark red suit on with a matching vest and black undershirt. He was definitely a sinister sight to see and Duck instantly hid behind Rue.

"Hello Drosselmeyer," Rue said calmly.

"Rue, why are spreading lies about Duck's life changing? We both know that will never happen," he said and walked right up to the brunette.

"I had one of my accidental flash forwards. I didn't know I was saying it," she said, still keeping her calm disposition.

"You had better be telling the truth, Rue, or else the duck gets it," Drosselmeyer said.

"Don't you dare! It's not her fault! She didn't have anything to do with my flash forward," Rue cried.

"Like I said, you'd better be telling the truth," he said and grabbed Duck's arm. "or she'll get it."

"Let her go," Rue said, glaring at the ringmaster. He complied and Rue said, "Duck, go find Pique. I'll be there shortly."

"O…okay Rue," Duck stuttered and ran out of the tent.

"What is your problem, Drosselmeyer? Hurting her was not a part of the deal," Rue said angrily.

"What do you mean? I'm not hurting her," he said with an evil grin.

"Yes you are. You are using your magical torture on her just because you can. Our deal was that we stay here and you use your magic to keep us hidden, not use your magic to make her life miserable," Rue said.

"And how will you stop me? I own both of you. What could you do to stop me? All you can do is see the future, you have no other magic," he said grabbing her arm. "I can do whatever I like and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"We signed a contract. You have to follow it," Rue spat and struggled out of his grip. "You had better follow the contract or you will lose two of your acts. You wouldn't want that would you?"

She walked out of the tent without waiting for a reply and headed straight for the tent that Duck was in with Pique.

"Rue! Look what Pique did," Duck said and held out a flower. "She made a flower appear from a field miles away. Isn't that cool?"

"Yes it is," Rue said smiling. She would make a great parent but she couldn't just leave Duck and she only knew one guy her age and that was Mytho, but he had no heart.

"Actually, I was trying to get some bread from the local baker but I got some flowers instead. So, what did you and Dro-sell-my-soul talk about?" Pique asked.

"I just told him to leave Duck alone. I doubt he'll actually listen but it's worth a try," Rue said and plopped down on the old chair with a sigh. "If only I could actually make him stop all this."

"I know, but none of us are strong enough to stand up to him without getting the pain," Pique said. "I'm sure Duck is used to it by now."

"No I'm not. I still don't like it and he just won't stop," Duck said and hunched in her chair. "Why does he hate me so much?"

"Maybe it's the wings," Pique said and poked at her right wing. "He probably doesn't like all the feathers you leave whenever you freak out."

"But I can't do anything about them. I can't make them disappear and I have no magic to hide them. There's nothing I can do," Duck said with a sigh.

"Oh, Duck," Rue said and rubbed the bird-girl's back. "Something will happen soon, I just know it."

"When will it happen? When?" Duck asked.


	2. A Newcomer

Chapter 2

A NEWCOMER

Later that night as Duck was sitting at the window in the makeshift home that she and Rue lived in, she heard a noise by the Big Top and it caught her attention. It wasn't the sound of people talking or an animal knocking over a lantern, it sounded more like struggling and she had to see what it was.

She snuck to the side entrance to the big tent and was very surprised by what she saw. It was a tall boy about 17 being dragged by two hooded men into the tent. He had fabric wrapped around his mouth so he couldn't shout and his hands were tied behind his back with a thick rope. He had long black hair that fell loosely in a ponytail behind his head and deep blue eyes that were deep with knowledge and strength. Duck had never seen anyone like him before and she was hypnotized by how strong and certain he was about himself.

She watched silently as he continued to struggle in the grip of the two hooded men and had a hard time containing a gasp as she saw him somehow untie his hands and fight off the two men. His hands seemed to have burst from the ropes and he knocked one of the men to the ground with one solid blow. He grabbed the sword the other was holding and he held in front as a warning not to come near. He used his free hand to untie the gag around his mouth and began to speak.

"Don't come near me or I will not hesitate to kill either one of you," he said, glaring at his kidnappers.

"Well, that's good to hear," Drosselmeyer's voice boomed.

The young man looked around in surprise and his sword soon flew from his hand and into the hand of the Ringmaster. He was so confused by the sword's sudden disappearance that he was taken by surprise by the two hooded men.

"What do we have here?" Drosselmeyer asked as he looked at the sword. "Simple but powerful. Now what is a kid like you doing with such a dangerous weapon?"

"It's none of your business. Let me go!" he yelled as he struggled.

"You don't seem to have any magic surrounding you and yet my little puppets brought you here," Drosselmeyer said as he looked closely at the new arrival. "Who are you?"

"No one you should bother with. I'm nobody, just let me go," he said.

"Tell me your name and why my men seem to think you are important," Drosselmeyer said waving his hand over the teen's head.

He struggled for a while then stopped, his face neutral and he said, "My name is Fakir. I don't know why I am here."

"Fakir? Let's see. Where did you get this sword?" Drosselmeyer asked.

"My father gave it to me."

"Is there anything special about you?"

"I can open any lock, untie any knot and I have never lost a sword fight," Fakir said then blinked several times. "What did you just do to me? What just happened?"

"So, an escape artist, huh? You could be very useful," Drosselmeyer said then headed to the entrance of the tent he came in through. "Bring him over here. I do believe I can get a good act out of him."

"Oh no," Duck whispered. She slowly followed them to a smaller tent and watched the shadows that were on the side of the orange wall. "What will he do?"

Duck waited and soon saw Drosselmeyer wave his hand over the boy again.

"Give me what you don't need or my warning you must head," Drosselmeyer chanted.

Fakir's head flew back and he yelled in pain as Drosselmeyer's magic did it's horrible deed. Duck watched as Fakir twisted in pain but he couldn't get away from it and soon he stopped struggling, his head hanging. Slowly but surely Duck could hear laughter coming from the tent and she could see the outline of…something floating toward the ringmaster.

"What is that?" Duck asked herself.

She saw the figures drag Fakir from the tent but this time he wasn't struggling.He seemed to have gotten his sword back but it looked just as limp as he did and she felt so sorry for the boy. She ducked behind a nearby crate and let the three figures pass. They walked right past her hiding spot but just as they got two steps further Fakir's head jerked up and he fought off the two cloaked puppets. He began racing away and Duck followed carefully.

He ran to the very last tent but when he tried to go past, it felt like he hit a brick wall and he fell backwards.

"What?" he asked, staring in front of him. "That's impossible. Why can't I leave?"

He stood up and put his hand against the invisible wall, not knowing how it was there but at the same time not. He banged on it but it made no sound. He stood back and looked at the technically empty space.

"This can't be happening," he said.

Duck took a step forward to get a better look at him when she hit an empty tin cup and she jumped back into the shadows as he turned around.

"Who's there?" he asked, looking around.

"Quack," she whispered, her eyes wide with fright.

"You had better come out or I'll find you," he said.

"Don't hurt me," Duck forced herself to say.

"What? Who's there?" he said and stepped towards the sound.

"If I come out…will…will you promise not to hurt me?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"Why would I hurt you? I'd only hurt you if you attack me but by the sound of your voice you're way too scared to even stand," he said, still looking around.

She stood up from her hiding spot and slowly walked around the corner of the tent she was hiding behind. She stopped when she noticed he was looking at her and bit her lip. She stepped out of the shadow of tent and into the light of the lantern, swallowing nervously.

He waited a few seconds then asked, "Who are you? Can you tell me what is going on?"

"My…my name is…is…Duck," she said, looking at the ground.

"Duck? Okay, so what is this place?" he asked walking a bit closer. He noticed how she stepped back as he got closer and he stopped. "What's your problem? I'm not going to hurt you."

"I…I'm sorry. I'm just…" she couldn't say why she was scared, she just was. She took a deep breath and tried her best to explain. "This is the Circus…of Wonders. Once…once you are one of Dr…Drosselmeyer's acts you can never leave. I've been here…my whole life."

"Really? So, I'm trapped here as one of his acts?" Fakir asked. "What? Hell no. I've got my own life, I don't want to spend the rest of my life here. There's got to be some way out of here."

"If there was…I'd have tried to leave," Duck said sadly. "There is no way out."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Fakir yelled at the sky. "He can't hold people here against their will, that's breaking every law of…of life! What the hell?"

"Fakir, maybe Rue can explain more," Duck suggested.

"How do you know my name?" he asked.

"I…I was following you when…when you were brought here. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad," she said and her lip started quivering.

"I'm not mad, I just wanted to know how you knew my name," he explained then said with a sigh. "Okay, who is this Rue person? I really need to know what is going on around here."

"Follow me. She…she should be in her booth c…cleaning up," she said and began to walk away with Fakir following close behind.


	3. A Brief Explanation

Chapter 3

A BRIEF EXPLANATION

"Rue? Are you in here?" Duck asked as she entered a small, dimly lit tent with only one table and two chairs.

"I'm over here Duck. You can tell the guy with you to sit down, I'll be right there," she said from somewhere out of sight.

"How did she know I was here?" Fakir whispered.

"She can see the future," Duck said and gave a small grin.

"That's a bunch of bull. No one can tell the future," he groaned.

"And I also suppose no one can put up a magical wall around the entire circus to keep the performers in," Rue said as she walked in, carrying her crystal ball. "Hello, I'm Rue and you are?"

"Fakir," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Well, if you want to know about this place you'll have to have an open mind Fakir," she said and took the red and green bandanna out of her long brown hair. "Without accepting that impossible things can happen, you'll never understand the situation you're in. Go on, sit down."

He complied.

"So, as far as I know, Drosselmeyer is a mystic who was fired from the king several years before the Raven took over," Rue explained. She was taking off her gypsy trinkets, the gold coin necklace and bracelets and the red fabric she wrapped around her waist over her white dress, and began putting them in a large chest. As she folded the fabric she asked, "Do you remember when that happened?"

"Unfortunately yeah," he grumbled.

"Well, Duck and I have been here ever since then and other than Mytho I'm the oldest of the performers. I know how Drosselmeyer works and what goes on in his twisted little mind and I do mean little. The guy can't think past the moment. He doesn't think about the future or what his actions can cause, he just wants his way right now," Rue explained.

"And he's always hurting me," Duck said softly. "I still don't know what I did to make him hate me so much. I always do my best in the shows but he always takes everything out on me."

Fakir looked at the young duck-girl with confusion and thought she had a point. She wasn't anywhere near brave enough to stand up on her own so why did Drosselmeyer always hurt her?

"Okay, I have a question," he asked, turning back to Rue. "Why can't I leave? Why can't we leave?"

"That's technically two questions," Rue said with a grin. "Anyway, we can't leave because when we are under contract. When we are employed we make a contract that never allows us to leave."

"I don't want to be employed here," Fakir said.

"Yeah, he was dragged here all tied up by Drosselmeyer's puppet men," Duck said, rubbing her arm. "He didn't come here willingly."

"Why?" Rue asked.

"What?" Fakir asked.

"Why did he drag you here? What can you do?" Rue asked and leaned on the table, very interested in what he would say.

Fakir thought for a second. He was unsure if he should tell these strangers what he could do but it didn't matter. He couldn't leave and unless she could also read minds, Rue was going to get the information she wanted from him eventually.

"I'm an escape artist…at least that's what Drosselmeyer said," Fakir said. "I grew up in a tinker shop after my dad died and I learned how to open any kind of lock and untie any knot. It's not magic, it's just skill."

"He also has this sword," Duck said and pointed at the weapon that rested in a gun holster.

"May I see your sword?" Rue asked.

"I'd rather not. It's a family heirloom and it does some weird things when other people touch it," Fakir said, putting his hand protectively on the pommel.

"Is it magical?" Rue asked.

"I don't know but I know that I've never lost a fight with it. Somehow I can beat just about anyone with this. Maybe it is the sword and maybe it's me but whenever anyone else tries to use it against me it becomes so heavy they drop it. It's happened several times," he said, recalling some of his past battles.

"Did you tell this to Drosselmeyer?" Rue asked, extremely interested.

"I…uh, I don't know," Fakir said, thinking.

"Drosselmeyer used some kind of magic to get him to tell him stuff. He did the same thing in that tent when you looked like you were in a lot of pain," Duck said and when she saw the look of fear and frustration she stepped back and whispered, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Rue was silent. She was thinking hard about what Duck had said and she came to a decision.

"Duck, you should get some sleep. It's been a long day for you," Rue said sweetly, almost motherly.

"But I want to help you explain things to Fakir," Duck whined.

"Don't worry about it, I can handle the rest from here. You need all the strength you can get for tomorrow's show. Now go on. I'll be there soon," she said and ushered the duck-girl to the entrance of the tent.

"Okay, Rue," Duck said and yawned. "You're right. I am really tired. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night Duck," Rue said and watched with a grin as Duck walked to the small shack at the other end of the circus grounds.

"Why did you suddenly rush her out?" Fakir asked as Rue walked back to her seat.

"I didn't want to worry her. You see, I'm trying to protect her from the real problems at this circus," she said, her smile gone. "She's such a sweet girl but because of her feathers and her fear she'll never be able to do more than pretend to be a duck suddenly turned into a girl."

"Was she born like that?"

"With the wings and feathers?" she asked and shook her head. "I don't know, I found her like that when I was on my way here. She was only a child when I brought her here and I saved her from a group of boys who were teasing her and hurting her. Even at a circus where freaks are seen every day she gets the bad end of things."

"So she's a freak?"

"What? No, I didn't mean it like that. It's just…she doesn't know the real reason any of this has happened," Rue stated.

"What is the real reason?"

"After Drosselmeyer was fired for whatever he did wrong her made this circus and took his revenge out on any of his performers. At first he was slow at being really mean but now his magic has gotten to the point he can do just about anything he likes," Rue sighed. "The only problem is, he doesn't know how to stop."

"When do any power-hungry mad men know how?" Fakir asked and groaned. "God this sucks. So, there's absolutely no way out of here?"

"Not exactly," she said with a knowing look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, when you make the contract to stay here forever you have to give up something or he just takes it. You know what I'm talking about," she said. "Duck said that you were in pain when he did some magic on you, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Tell me, did he say 'give me what you don't need…'"

"Or my warning you must heed. Yes, he said that but what does it mean?" Fakir asked.

"It's kind of self-explanatory but it means that if you don't do what he says then you'll suffer the consequences. Duck knows what that means ever though she's never done anything wrong, unlike Pique and Lillie. They're both walking disasters," she said and shook her head. "He took gracefulness from Pique and two of Lillie's ribs."

"Whoa, wait. Her ribs?" Fakir asked. "How did he take her ribs? Did he do surgery or something?"

"No, his magic is that powerful. In fact, he took Mytho's heart now he can't feel or die. That's the act Drosselmeyer has for Mytho. He's the undead boy, you can shoot him or stab him and he can't die because he's already technically dead," she said and sighed.

"What? You seem really upset about that. He's just a guy, isn't he?" Fakir asked.

"He…I've fallen for him," she said and looked away. "I've fallen in love with him but he can't ever return my love because he doesn't have a heart. Have you ever felt like that?"

"No," he said bluntly. "I don't think love exists. It's just a sham that people put themselves through to pretend they're happy. I've never put myself through a lie like that and I never will."

"Oh. You may think that but that's something else I worry about for Duck," she said slowly. "She's only known Mytho but that's not what a real boy is like. I fear she may never find the right guy and if she does…she'll have never be able to tell him how she felt."

"Why?" he asked, confused.

"Drosselmeyer took her courage."


	4. Trapped in a Cycle

Chapter 4

TRAPPED IN A CYCLE

The next day, Drosselmeyer dragged Fakir to the stage area before the show actually began and he explained what Fakir was to do.

"Now listen boy. You will fight Mytho and you will stab him through his chest," Drosselmeyer spat.

"You mean kill him," Fakir said, glaring at the white haired man.

"If you want to think of it that way then yes, kill him, and after that you will battle my puppets. If you lose you will be hung over a raging fire and burned alive," Drosselmeyer said with a sneer.

"Seems like a one-time act then," Fakir said and crossed his arms.

"Are you saying you want to die?"

"If it means getting out of this hell-hole then yes. I would rather die," he said with just as much hate in his voice as he could muster.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible because I can always make you like Mytho," Drosselmeyer said. He pointed over to the tall white haired boy who was standing in front of a knife throwing board with a distant and blank look on his face. "He's very easy to work with. It would be interesting to see just what you would be like if you were like that."

"You already took one thing from me, you aren't getting anything else so quit dreaming," Fakir said. "I'm not staying here, you can bet on that. You aren't going to win and I will prove it even if it kills me."

"I can't wait," Drosselmeyer said and the ugliest, creepiest grin grew on his wrinkled old face.

Fakir glared at him and even after the old ringmaster vanished he was still glaring. He didn't want to do any stupid show. He wasn't an actor. He was an inventor, a tinkerer if you will, and he hated people watching him. Maybe that's what Duck found so interesting about him. He was quiet and serious. He only did things with a purpose and he had a brilliant mind. If he found any scrap metal he would take it to the tent he and Mytho shared and make something with it. He made a small sparrow and even a dragonfly once. He gave to bird to Duck because he had nothing better to do with it and she kept annoying him about it.

She did annoy him a lot but he couldn't help but think of her as a younger sister. She was young enough to be one, at least that what he thought. He never took the time to ask how old she was and he didn't really care, he just let her do her own thing.

He didn't like hanging around Pique and Lillie because they were really awkward. Even though Drosselmeyer didn't take Lillie's elegance she was still as dumb as a brick and Pique was clumsier than Duck. She would practice her magic, which was mostly teleporting or transforming things, she would get something wrong and teleport the wrong thing into the circus. She once teleported a bear from the mountains and it chased her around for nearly an hour before Drosselmeyer got rid of it…literally. He killed it. It just spontaneously combusted in front of everyone and Lillie was the only one really upset about it. She had a weird sense of comedy and it creeped everyone out, mostly Fakir.

He soon found out that Rue and Duck weren't being sarcastic about Duck being blamed for everything even if she didn't do it. Whenever Pique would cause an accident like that Duck would get tortured by Drosselmeyer's magic. It was a sort of curse that put you through a pain that could never be repeated by any existing object and she would completely collapse afterward. It pissed Fakir off even more to see an innocent girl like Duck get punished for something that wasn't her fault.

He would have tried to stop Drosselmeyer but Rue warned him that if he did Drosselmeyer would put him through far worse. It was a no-win scenario and it made Fakir anxious. He couldn't do anything except what he didn't want to do and if he did do what he felt should be done he'd possibly get beaten to within an inch of his life. It was hard for someone like him to just there and do nothing and everyone could see it, even Duck.

She found that he was really a caring guy but not because he told her or showed her in words or actions but because she would see him from a distance do something really kind and it always made her smile. She figured out his usual schedule too. Every night at sun set he would walk to the edge of the circus and stare out at the mountains in the distance. He would just stand there with his hands in his pockets and stare. He wouldn't move, he wouldn't talk to himself, he wouldn't have any emotion on his face and he wouldn't even turn his head to look at the city over the horizon.

Duck was so confused by his behavior and after several days of watching him quietly from a distance she finally decided to walk up and ask him what he was doing. Each step closer made her legs feel like noodles and she could hardly breathe because she was so scared she'd make him mad. This was something he did every night and she didn't know if it was because he wanted some time to himself or what but she just had to know what he was doing.

She slowly walked up next to him and just before she was about to speak he answered her question.

"I'm looking at the mountains…the only place in this entire kingdom free from the Ravens rule," he said, not even looking down at her. "I was going to go there but Drosselmeyer caught me before I could make it."

"Is there anyone there that you know?" she asked quietly.

"No."

"But, won't you be lonely?"

"I don't get lonely. I've never been lonely and I never will be," he said. "It's been that way all my life. You get used to it after a while."

"Oh, but surely you like us," she said, a hopeful smile on her face.

"Eh, sort of. You guys are circus performers, you aren't exactly people I'd usually be seen around."

"What did you do before you came here?" Duck asked.

"I worked with my adopted brother. Actually I was the one adopted but you get the point. He started a mechanic store where he could build his inventions and sell them. He would even get paid to build other people's things. Most were just little trinkets that could be put together in a day or so like a walking toy or a mini steam engine for a model but nothing too big," he said and sighed. "Even with my help he couldn't sell enough of his inventions to go anywhere. It's all because of the freaking Raven."

"Who's the Raven?" Duck asked.

"You don't know?" he asked, finally turning his head to look at her.

"I don't know anything about the outside world and no one has ever told me anything about him. I guess they just don't think it's too important seeing how we aren't affected by him," she said.

"Aren't you lucky," he said and shook his head. "Perhaps you should know who he is. It could be important someday. The Raven is an evil creature that has a heart of stone and a soul blacker than oil. He's destroyed several kingdoms and has conquered even more. He has lived for hundreds of years and can live for hundreds more off the sadness and misery of the people he rules. Everywhere he goes darkness follows and for as long as he rules there will be no sunshine. That's what that is over there."

He pointed to the right of the mountains to a dark haze over the horizon.

"Is it his magic?" Duck asked.

"A good portion of it is but it is also trapped smoke and steam from all the machines and factories in the city. I don't know how anyone could ever want to live in a place like that and say they're happy," he grumbled. "Why people put themselves through lies like that is beyond me."

"Lies?" Duck asked, looking up at him.

"The people there make themselves believe that everything that goes on is normal. There were only a few that I knew of that could see how moronic everyone was. Just a few," he said. "It seemed obvious to me that we were being ruled by a tyrannical dictator when the air ships began flying overhead every hour of the day and night."

"Air ships? What are those?" Duck asked, her curiosity of this outside world growing.

"They were made by some brilliant inventors for the Raven but once they were done the inventors were killed. The ships are used as a military domination and if you do anything out of place then the air ships will take you to the dungeon of the castle. Someone I knew was caught doing something and he was taken to the castle. I haven't seen him since," he said and looked down at Duck's wide eyes.

"Wow, that sounds so horrible…but so fascinating. Please tell me more," she said and smiled.

"I don't know what else to say. I could care less what happens out there now that I'm stuck here," he said and shrugged. "Besides, the Ravens rule will end in about five months."

"Why?"

"He sucks all the energy out of the people that he can after ten years. It's been more than nine now."


	5. The Looming Cloud

Chapter 5

THE LOOMING CLOUD

Duck didn't understand exactly what Fakir meant by the Raven's rule was almost done but Rue did. She understood all too well and she needed some advice from the only person who she could trust, Mytho. She had dragged him to her fortune tent and told him to sit down.

"Mytho, do you understand the importance of ten years?" she asked as she paced.

"It will mean the Raven's rule will end. Why?" he asked, his voice in monotone.

"If he ends his rule this year then the entire kingdom will be destroyed. He always destroys the kingdoms once he gets all he can from them and it seems that if he does this we will also be destroyed," she said, her voice full of worry.

"Drosselmeyer's magic will protect us," Mytho said, staring at the side of the tent.

"It's not that strong. When the Raven goes all out in destruction nothing can with stand it, not even Drosselmeyer's magic," she said frantically. "But if someone stopped him from completing the final countdown then perhaps the kingdom can be saved. I just can't believe I had forgotten that this would happen. I feel so stupid."

"You aren't stupid," he said, his orange-brown eyes looking at her with no emotion. "Who would be able to stop the Raven if Drosselmeyer can't?"

"I…I don't know. If only we still had someone from the royal family. Their power would be strong enough to beat the Raven," she said thoughtfully.

"They were all killed."

"I know. I was just saying if."

"Can't you see into the future to find out?"

"I'll try but I don't think I can see that far into the future," she said and sat down. She touched the crystal ball and closed her eyes for a few seconds. She opened her eyes again and looked into the ball. Smoke began to swirl and an image appeared, it was the image of…Duck. "Duck? What is this? What is she doing?" Rue looked even deeper into the crystal ball and watched as the young girl rushed to an injured Fakir and was frantically talking to him. She seemed to be trying to comfort him but he was too injured and he…The image vanished from the ball and the hideous face of the Raven appeared, staring at Rue. She jumped out of the chair and tripped, falling backwards onto the ground. "Oh my god. W…what was that?"

"Are you okay?" Mytho asked without really understanding why she had reacted that way.

"Yeah…yeah, I just…um, need to calm down a little. I'll be fine," she said, gasping and staring at the ball with fright. "I don't think I should use that for the rest of the day. It seemed to…never mind. I don't know what I'm talking about."

"Need help?" Mytho asked and she grabbed his hand. He helped her to her feet and looked at her blankly saying, "Maybe you should rest."

"Thank you Mytho," Rue said and sat back down, rubbing the side of her head. "Don't tell anyone else about what we talked about Mytho. I don't want the others to worry."

"Okay," he said as he turned to leave.

"Mytho," she said suddenly.

He turned silently.

"Thank you for listening," she said and evaded her eyes.

"Okay," he said and left.

As Rue sat silently in her tent trying to figure out what the images she just saw meant, Fakir was going through his stupid little act. He was tired of it and he really didn't care if the people in the audience saw how annoyed he was because he thought that they should know the performers weren't happy. It didn't make a difference seeing how Drosslemeyer's magic seemed to make them oblivious to what was really happening.

He just let his body do the work while he let his mind wander. He had realized after the first few shows that his sword was magical. It didn't let anything hurt him, not even a bullet. It was a big help when he really didn't want to think about the repetitive fighting and he didn't even hear the audience cheer when he destroyed a puppet. Yep, he destroyed them, they were only puppets after all.

One thing he didn't notice was Duck. She would always stand to the side and watch his act. She was so intrigued by how easy he made fighting look and she couldn't help but wish she had the courage (that we all know she doesn't have) to also fight. She felt so useless as the duck-girl and she was tired of all the taunts and pokes she got from the onlookers when they walked by. Most were small children who didn't understand what it was like to be different and alone and Duck felt like she wanted to cry with every name she was called and every mocking laugh that escaped any one's lips.

She ran to the place Fakir always stood staring at the mountains and hid behind the tent, curled in a ball and near to tears. She would sit there and rock back and forth until she was calmed down and start softly humming a song she didn't know the origin.

"I'm alone in the universe. So alone in the universe. My own planets and stars are glowing…la la la la la."

She didn't know the rest of the song but she could hum it over and over again. It always gave her comfort to think of what it meant and she just imagined herself somewhere watching the unimportant people do important things in their lives. She just wished she could be one of those people that didn't have any problems except what to wear the next day.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear Fakir walk up. He seemed really pissed and Duck curled up even tighter to hide, just in case he was mad at her. She watched silently as he threw a rock at the magical wall and as it went right through it into the big empty field.

"God damn it!" he hollered and walked over to the invisible wall. He pounded on it but it made no sound and soon he seemed to give up. He turned around and leaned against it, crossing his arms and staring at the ground. He suddenly asked, "What are you looking at Duck?"

"Quack!" she said in surprise. "How did…"

"How did I know you were there?" he asked, finishing her sentence. "I just did, deal with it."

"Are you okay?" she asked slowly.

"I'm fine!" he barked. Duck looked surprised and scared and he saw that. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that. It's not your fault. I shouldn't take it out on you."

She looked at him, her heart skipped and she didn't know why. He wasn't going to take his anger out on her? She was so happy. For the first time she wouldn't get hurt for something she didn't do. She rushed over to him and hugged him, surprising him.

"What? What are you doing?" he asked, looking down at her feathery head.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" he asked.

"For not being me to me like Drosselmeyer or Pique or Lillie. They always get me in trouble and you're the first person who hasn't hurt me," she said and without realizing it she began to cry.

"Whoa, hey," he said noticing the tears. "You don't need to cry."

"I'm crying?" she asked and felt her cheek. "I am crying. I must be…I must not have realized how sad I was about that before."

"Keeping it in is hard isn't it?" he asked, more inquiring than from experience.

"Uh-huh. I'm sorry, I've never cried in front of people before, especially a guy," she said and grinned at him shakily.

"There's a first time to everything but you don't have to worry…I won't tell anyone," he said and she smiled even wider.

"Thanks," she said and hugged him once more.

"Okay, enough with the hugs. I'm not a huggable person," he said as he tried to pry her away.

"Yes you are," she said, her eyes closed and a smile imprinted on her lips.

His eyes went wide and he looked around hoping that no one was watching or even anywhere near. He didn't want to get caught being lovey-dovey by anyone because that wasn't who he was to the others. He was the strong silent type who didn't like being near people, didn't like being touched and definitely didn't show affection so why was he letting Duck hug him?

He just happened to look over at the mountains and the smoke cloud over the city as he was looking around when he noticed something, the cloud was bigger. He tried to focus but the angle of his head made it really hard to do that.

"Duck, let go. I need to look at something," he said, still trying to focus.

"What? What is it?" she asked. She seemed to hear the urgency in his and she let go, watching him get to a better position to see. "What are you looking at?"

"Remember that city I told you about with the cloud over it about…what, three weeks ago?" he asked, rushing to another angle.

"Yeah, what about it?" she asked, following him.

He stopped and looked at the cloud for a few seconds. His face turned to an expression of astonishment and he said, "It's getting closer."

* * *

Okay, so I know this is kind of a lame chapter and it doesn't really have any real importance except to spew exposition but just bare with me. I've been trying to figure some way to get the story to be even more awesome and it's not as easy as you think, even though I know how the story is going to end.

The song that Duck is singing is called "Alone in the Universe" from the musical Suessical. If you want to hear what it sounds like I suppose you could go onto youtube and find it. Unfortunately I still don't know how to put in links or stuff like that. I'm such a moron, gah!

Hope you guys still enjoy this because I'm having a blast writing it. Please tell me what you think and help me with the steam punkyness...I really need some help with that.


	6. What to Do

Chapter 6

WHAT TO DO

"There's got to be an explanation for this," Rue said.

Fakir had quickly rushed to Rue's tent and told her of what he had seen. He didn't quite understand why he was telling her his suspicions but it just seemed the only thing to do. She and the others were stuck in the same giant hole of mud as he was and he felt he could possibly escape with the help of the others. It made sense to him to get help in return for helping them but then again, in a word of so much evil how could he be sure.

"Fakir thinks it has something to do with that Raven guy," Duck said, trying to be helpful.

"It's obviously got to have something to with him. He first caused that cloud and now it's getting bigger, moving further out. He's trying to get all the negative energy out of everyone that he can before the end," Fakir said. "Somehow someone's going to have to stop him. If he gets to the final countdown then it's the end for the entire kingdom of Gold Crown."

"I know what will happen Fakir. I've heard the stories and I've seen the future," Rue said sadly.

"Then he wins?" Fakir asked. "Well, that's just great. Now we know it's pointless to even hope for some kind of savior. You're a real spoiler you know that?"

"Now look. Just because I can see the future doesn't always mean that it's actually going to happen," Rue pointed out. "I've witnessed several times that the future can be altered, just who alters it and how is the real problem."

"So, there's still a chance that the Raven can be stopped?" Duck asked hopefully.

"Of course there is," Rue said as if talking to a five year old.

"If you're lying to me right now Rue you can be sure I will make you pay," Fakir said, staring sternly at the gypsy.

"Why would I lie to you?" she asked.

"Because…I don't know but I wouldn't put it past you," he said.

"Now I may not be a mind reader but it's obvious you don't trust me. We're all in the same boat here so you can keep your suspicions under lock and key," she said, just as sternly. "Why don't you trust me?"

"I don't trust anyone," he said.

"But you trust me…right?" Duck asked innocently.

He looked down at her and saw her big blue eyes looking at him like a puppy begging for food. He didn't know how to answer her. He didn't know if he trusted her or not. She hadn't really done anything to him that would cause him to mistrust her but it didn't matter. He turned his face away and muttered to himself.

She looked down and said, "Okay, it's not that important."

"Fakir. How could you do that to her?" Rue asked.

"Do what?"

"She asked you a simple question and you just ignore it? What kind of a jerk are you?" she said storming over to him.

"I'm a selfish jerk that only cares about himself! There, you happy now?" he asked, glaring down at the brunette.

"Am I supposed to be?" she asked.

"I don't know and I don't care because I don't really care about what you want or think," he said and crossed his arms.

"That's not true," Duck said softly.

"What?" Rue asked, turning to look at Duck who was looking to the floor ashamed. "What do you mean?"

"Fakir, you aren't a selfish jerk," she said, her eyes still down cast. "You…you've been one of the nicest people I've met. You didn't hurt me when you were mad and that's not what a selfish jerk would do. A real jerk would be D…D…Dr…"

"Drosselmeyer?" Rue finished.

"Uh-huh," Duck said and bit her lip. "I don't believe you'd even hurt Rue."

Fakir and Rue looked at each other in astonishment. Duck had never said something like that before and she never felt so strongly about who a person was. Whatever was happening to Duck was making Rue a bit nervous. Was Fakir doing something he shouldn't be or was he telling her things that she shouldn't hear?

Fakir was more confused about was why this simple girl whose life was a living hell was wasting her energy trying to defend him. All he did was tell her things about the outside world and be a dictionary for her but he'd never shown any kind of real sincere caring towards her, had he?

"Duck, how would you know something like this?" Rue asked, walking over to the duck-girl.

"I…I don't know. I just do," she said.

She suddenly burst into tears and ran over to him, hugging him and catching him off guard again. He stepped back in surprise and his dark green eyes opened wide to show his surprise.

"Fakir, don't say things like that," she cried. "You're really a nice person and you…you can be really caring if you want to be. I just know it but you've got to stop being so angry."

"Uh…" he had no idea what to say. He wasn't even sure if he should put his hand on her back to show he was at least trying to comfort her.

"Duck, I think you should let him go. He doesn't understand how to care. He said it himself, he's a selfish jerk who cares only about himself," Rue said, raising an eyebrow at the taller boy.

"No, he's caring. You just can't see it yet," Duck said and buried her face into his shirt.

"She's right Duck. I don't care…about anything," he said and grabbed her hands, pulling them apart from behind his back. "You should just forget about it."

"But…" she said, tears streaking her face.

"Just forget about it," he said sternly, pushing her hands back at her then turning back to Rue. "So, do you have any idea how to defeat the Raven?"

"Well, that's bringing the conversation back around into a big circle isn't it?" she mumbled.

"Well, excuse me for trying to stop the destruction of the world as we know it," he said. "Just trying to help."

"Fine. All I know is that to destroy the Raven only the sword of a knight can pierce his heart but the knights also disappeared or died when the royal family was killed. I have no idea where anyone could possibly find one," Rue said.

"Only the knights can kill him? Why?" he asked.

"They were the protectors of the kingdom and therefore have a power that can stop evil invaders but somehow they were unable to stop the invasion of the Raven. It's something that bugs me even now," she said.

"Rue," Duck said suddenly, wiping her eyes.

"Yes Duck?"

"I remember you used to tell me of a man that tried to kill the Raven once but failed and was cursed. If he was still around…could he defeat the Raven with help?" Duck asked.

"Someone tried to kill the Raven? When did this happen?" Fakir asked.

"It was a story I heard several years ago. It was before Duck and I got here and it wasn't long after the invasion that some people were talking about a young man who had braved the odds and fought the Raven. The only problem was that he didn't have the power to take on the magic of the Raven and was cursed," Rue explained.

"He's supposed to be out wondering the world, not knowing what he was doing or where he came from. It was also rumored that he can't age and is unable to find happiness ever again until the curse is broken," Duck said softly. "I was just thinking that if someone found this guy that he could possibly stop the Raven."

"That's great and all but how would you even find this guy? What's his name? What does he look like? Where would he be?" Fakir asked. "You may be able to break this curse but until you find the guy you can't even start coming up with any plans of an attack."

"Rue," a voice monotone voice said from the entrance to the tent.

"Mytho?" Rue asked as the white haired boy walked in. "Is something wrong?"

"I was told to find you," he said.

"By who?" Rue asked.

"Whom," Fakir corrected.

"What?" Rue asked, confused.

"You should have said by whom," he said and shrugged. "Just had to point that out."

"You are…never mind," she said and turned her attention back to Mytho. "Who told you to find me?"

"Pique and Lillie," he said, staring blankly.

"Why?" Fakir asked.

"I don't know. They just did," Mytho said.

"Oh, they're probably up to no good again. We'd better stop them before they cause something that gets Duck in trouble," Rue said and headed for the entrance.

"Why would they get Duck in trouble on purpose if they're her friends?" Fakir asked.

"Ha! Friends? They're more of manipulative klutzes who don't take responsibility for their actions," Rue said then stopped. "You mean you haven't been able to tell?"

"I don't pay attention to them because they're morons," he said and shrugged. "Now I can see why."

"Well, come on," Rue said and they all followed her out of the tent.

They all marched to where Mytho had last seen the two girls and found them trying to sneak into Drosselmeyer's trailer.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Rue asked, her hands on her hips.

"Who us?" Pique asked.

"Yeah."

"Nothing," Lillie said and grinned.

"Looks like you're digging your own grave by going in there," Fakir said. "Why would you do that?"

"Because it's fun," Lillie said.

"Possibly getting yourselves on Drosselmeyer's bad side is fun?" Rue asked. "How are you two still alive?"

"And besides, if he kills you then he's going to go after Duck who has nothing to do with your crazy schemes," Fakir said. "Why do you do that to her?"

"I don't know," Pique said with a playful shrug.

"Are you really that stupid?" he asked.

"I guess so," Pique said.

"Morons," Fakir said and rolled his eyes.

"You had better get out of here before Drosselmeyer gets here or you can kiss your lives good bye," Rue said.

"Okay, but if anyone asks it was Duck," Lillie said and was just about to run off when Rue stopped her.

"Hold on for just one minute," she said. "What were you going to do?"

"We were just going to make a tiger appear in his bed so he'd die," Pique said.

"I thought of it," Lillie said proudly.

"You would," Duck said from behind Mytho.

"Hush Duck," Rue said. "But what would be the point? He's what's keeping us alive here."

"He's also the one keeping us as his slaves," Fakir said. "I think they have a point though."

"What? Are you on their side now?" Rue asked. "They shouldn't be even thinking of killing someone, no matter who it is."

"Now wait. If my hunch is right then if Drosselmeyer is killed or dies then his magic will end and we can leave. Isn't that right?" he asked.

"That's just a theory. How do we know if killing him won't seal us away here forever," Rue argued back.

"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" he asked, his eye brow raised knowingly.

"Oh, hell no. I can't believe you. You'd actually kill someone?" she asked.

"If it means getting out of here then yes," he said.

"Sweet, we got the escape artist," Pique said happily.

"I didn't know he was so violent," Lillie said just as happily.

"He fights every-day, Lillie. How could you not know he's violent?" Pique asked.

"I don't know."


	7. An Escape or A Death Wish

Chapter 7

AN ESCAPE OR A DEATH WISH

Rue didn't know just how Pique and Lillie had actually talked them into the crazy plan but somehow they all agreed to it, even Duck was willing to go through it. They were going to try and kill Drosselmeyer and it was one of the most dangerous things that any of them had ever dreamed of doing.

But did any of them think that perhaps Drosselmeyer had expected an assassination attempt? Probably not. Was the plan fool-proof? Nope. Who was in charge? Pique and Lillie and it was the dumbest thing that any of them could have possibly gotten caught up in. How Fakir could have thought it was a good idea will be the second biggest mystery in the universe besides the ultimate question where the answer is 42 but that's a different story.

The plan was so unorganized that even Duck, who wasn't the brightest color in the rainbow, could see it probably wouldn't work but she just wanted to leave and it seemed like the only way. She spent most of her time hiding behind either Fakir or Mytho and it was easy to see that she was extremely nervous about the whole thing even though she never said it.

The plan itself was so stupid it hurts me to ever write about it. They were going to hide in his trailer and when he went to sleep, Pique would teleport a tiger to eat him. It was really stupid to hide in the same area where a tiger would be present but Pique put the plan together and she didn't think about any of the details, just seeing Drosselmeyer get eaten. Fakir, Rue, and even Duck questioned her sanity but she was absolutely sure it would work and would not budge on her idea.

One other thing they didn't think about was if Pique could actually do it right. She almost never got her magic to do what she wanted it to do and the last time she tried to teleport an animal she nearly got eaten by a bear.

Okay, so if you can't already tell that this plan sucked and was a complete failure then you are probably like Pique because it failed from the very start. They didn't even have time to get situated before Drosselmeyer found them and punished them, well, mostly Duck.

He had his puppets take the performers and throw them, pretty literally, into an old wagon with bars. It was once used to keep a lion in it but it was able to escape so the wagon had been left in disrepair for several years.

Fakir was the most pissed at the puppets and Drosselmeyer and because he was fighting so hard against them Drosselmeyer had the puppets chain his wrists to the wagon's walls. No, he didn't forget that Fakir was an escape artist and so he put a spell around the cuffs so that they couldn't be opened.

"Let me go!" Fakir yelled as he struggled against the chains.

The puppets didn't answer and Fakir kicked them, making one fall out the open cage door.

"You no good freaking bastards! You'll pay for this Drosselmeyer!" he yelled, hoping that the old man would hear him.

However, the old man was busy making Duck pay even though she didn't really have anything to do with the plan and he was just being what is considered a troll. He was hurting her and being mean just to do it. He never really had a reason but he did it and he enjoyed seeing her pain.

He was using his magic torture (sort of like that one forbidden spell from Harry Potter) and she began crying. She did her best to withstand the pain but it was far more powerful this time and she felt like she was going to die. For several minutes he did this to her and when he finally stopped she crumpled into a weak heap against the wall.

"Take her to the cage with the others," he demanded his puppet.

The puppet complied and picked up the shaking girl.

As he went by his master, Drosselmeyer said, "Now, if your friends don't want to suffer the same fate then perhaps they will think before making any stupid escape attempt again. Is that understood little Duck?"

She could only cry in response which made the old geezer laugh.

"Take her to the cage," he said laughing as the girl got carried out of the trailer.

Once the puppet reached the wagon he tossed her in, making her hit the floor hard. She didn't even try to get up and began sobbing again.

"Oh, Duck," Rue said, rushing over to her. "He hurt you even more didn't he?"

"Uh-huh," Duck sobbed.

"That jerk! He doesn't need to take it out on her," Fakir said, pulling on the chains. "It wasn't her fault."

"It was theirs," Mytho said blandly, looking at the pink and blonde haired girls.

"It was their idea…and I agreed with them," Fakir said. "I should have been the one to get hurt. It was more my fault than hers!"

"We all had a part in it. We're all to blame," Rue said and hugged Duck. "I'm so sorry Duck. We shouldn't have done it. I should have known this would happen."

"Fakir," Duck said as she looked over Rue's shoulder. "Can't…can't you get us out of here?"

"No," he said and turned his head away in shame. "I can't even get my own hands out of these."

"Drosselmeyer put some sort of magic spell around it," Pique said and shrugged. "I just wish my plan had worked.

"We all did. We all want to leave but it seems impossible," Rue said and buried her face in Duck's feathers. "There's nothing we can do."

"There's always something we can do," Duck said softly.

"What was that?" Rue asked like a mother would.

"You always said that we had the choice of how we want to live our lives…it just takes time to get it the way we want," Duck said and tried to grin but couldn't.

"Oh Duck, you are always so sweet," Rue said and hugged her even tighter. "Thank you for trying to raise our spirits. That's the most we could ever ask of you, just to try."

Everyone sat silently, thinking about what Duck had said and just wishing, just hoping she was right. Maybe this wasn't all that their lives would be. Maybe they still had a chance of going places, seeing new things, being free. It was all any of them could ever wish for and it raised the cloud hovering over them a good three feet.

"Rue, how long will we be in here?" Mytho asked, breaking the silence.

She looked at his orange brown eyes and thought for a second. She didn't know how long they would be there or what Drosselmeyer was planning to do to them in the morning but she just had to make it sound nowhere near as bad as it could be.

"I don't know, but as long as we are together it can't be that bad," she said and grinned at his neutral face.

"Yeah right. Death would be better than a lifetime here," Fakir muttered.

"Don't say that Fakir," Duck said softly, hiding her face behind Rue's shoulder.

"Well it is. You've lived here for your entire life and you never once thought about maybe your life could be better? How the hell am I supposed to believe that? You should be the one here wanting to leave the most. You've had it the worst and the older you get the harder it will become," Fakir said. "Maybe you should look at your own future and stop listening to the brainwashing words of Drosselmeyer."

"Brainwashing?" Duck asked.

"Yes, he's been brainwashing you. I've heard the things he's said to you and it's obvious you believe them," Fakir said.

"Fakir, stop. You're upsetting her," Rue said.

"She needs to know!" he said fiercely at the gypsy. "She needs to know the truth. She needs to know what was taken from her."

"Fakir, stop it. She doesn't need to know. It'll be too painful for her," Rue said. "I can't allow it."

Duck was looking at Fakir and Rue with confusion. She didn't know who to believe, who to listen to, she didn't even know what he was talking about but she knew that if she didn't hear what he had to say then she'd be trapped forever in a world of secrets and pain.

She pushed away slowly from Rue and looked at Fakir.

"Rue, I want to know."

"What?" she asked, astonished.

"I want to know what he's talking about," Duck said softly. "Please, I know you want to help me but maybe I need to hear someone else's voice for a change."

"But…" Rue stuttered.

"Let him tell her Rue," Mytho said. "She should know."

She looked from the orange-brown eyes of Mytho to the sweet face of Duck to the piercing stare of Fakir and she just didn't know what to do. She looked down sadly and shook her head yes.

"Okay, Fakir. You can tell her," she said and sighed.

"What was taken from me?" Duck asked as she turned to face the escape artist.

"Do you understand how this circus works?" he asked.

"Um, it has people do things that aren't normal and they can't leave. Why?"

"The reason they can't leave is because…Drosselmeyer takes something from them. He takes something that can't be held in a jar or kept under lock and key," he said.

"Does he do it to every one of his performers?" she asked.

"Yes. He took something from each of us," he said. "He took something from me the night I was dragged here and he took something from you all those years ago when were brought here."

"Nothing was taken from me. I would have remembered…" she said and looked at Rue's sad face, "wouldn't I?"

"Duck," Rue whispered. "You were too young to remember it but he did take something from you."

"What? What was it?" she asked looking at the others nervously.

"Your courage Duck," Rue said.

"It's the reason you're so scared all the time. It's the reason why you can't stand up to Drosselmeyer," Fakir said.

"It's the reason why Pique and I can walk all over you," Lillie said happily.

"Shut up Lillie. You aren't helping," Pique said and elbowed the blonde.

"Did all of you know?" Duck asked.

"Yes, we were able to figure it out and Rue told us," Pique said. "It wasn't that hard either. You jumped at nearly everything and you never were able to say no to us because you were too afraid."

"Kinda sucks to be you," Lillie said.

"What was taken from all of you?" Duck asked.

"My elegance and grace and anything that is the opposite of clumsy," Pique said with a shrug. "That's why I can't really do anything right."

"Three of my ribs were taken so I could be more flexible," Lillie said and giggled.

"Sometimes I think she also lost her ability to actually be serious," Pique said.

"What about you Mytho?" Duck asked.

"My heart," he said and put his hand to his chest. "He took my heart."

"Oh my gosh," Duck gasped. "That's horrible. Fakir?"

"I…I'd rather not talk about it," he said and turned away.

"Oh…okay," Duck said and bit her lip.

"That's how he keeps us here," Rue said. "He uses the things he took to create a magical barrier so we can't leave. Some of us didn't realize that he did that while others were found and forced to give something up."

"Yeah, it's kind of obvious to who didn't want to be here," Fakir said. "Any of who came here willingly are complete morons."

"We stumbled onto this place," Pique said. "I was considered a witch in the town I came from and I would have been burned at the stake if I hadn't come here."

"I was just really flexible and I didn't know what to do with my life," Lillie said.

"I can't remember how I got here," Mytho said. "All I know is that now I can't die or feel."

"It's okay Mytho," Rue said and tried to comfort him but it was obvious he didn't feel any pain. "I came here to protect Duck from getting hurt out in the world. I had saved her from a group of boys who were hurting her in an alley of the city. This was the only place I could think of where she would be safe from persecution but it seems she hasn't escaped it even here."

"Rue, why are you here though?" Duck asked. "You didn't need to stay."

"Yes I did. I had to make sure you didn't get…hurt," she seemed to have started to say something else but stopped. "Anyway, I had somehow always had a knack for seeing the future and thought I could also stay here and watch over you."

"Thank you so much Rue. I don't know what I would have done without you," Duck said as she hugged the older girl.

"It's okay Duck. I'm glad I was able to be there for you," she said and patted her head. "Now we should get some sleep. We need to be ready for whatever hell Drosselmeyer has planned for us tomorrow."


	8. Could This Be The Start ofNah

Chapter 8

COULD THIS BE THE START OF…NAH

They had all eventually fallen asleep except for Fakir. He couldn't sleep, not when his hands were chained to a wall and were falling asleep. He was so pissed that he couldn't unlock them and he was damning magic out the wazoo at this point because it was magic that got him in this mess and magic that was holding him prisoner. He just wanted everything to be at least semi-normal like back in the city where there was no magic just really clever machines and devices.

He was still trying to unlock the chains, even though he knew it was pointless, and he was mumbling under his breath. It was frustrating, what more do you want? Fakir wasn't someone who just sat there and let things happen, he tried to make things happen the way HE wanted them.

With all the sounds he was trying not to make it was no wonder that Duck woke up. She was the closest to him and the sound was far louder to her than to the others. She was lying next to Rue and as she moved to see what the noise was, Rue also moved but then went back to sleep.

Fakir saw the small duck-girl sit up and he whispered, "Go back to sleep."

"What are you doing?" she asked in a whisper.

"Nothing, just go back to sleep."

"Are you trying to get out of those chain things?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"What if I am? What would you do about it?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said and began to crawl over to him.

"What are you doing? Just go back to sleep," he said and focused his attention back on the chains.

"I want to help you," she said as she slid up next to him.

"Not like there's anything you could help me with," he said without looking at her. "Unless you have anti-magic cream or something then you'd just be wasting your time."

"It couldn't hurt," she whispered.

He looked at her and noticed that even at night her eyes shone just as brightly as if it was still day. She seemed to have more pizazz in her then he could ever give her credit for and she seemed to have an unlimited amount of kindness. He had never met anyone like her before. He'd never met anyone who could be so scared of her own shadow but still want to help with the impossible.

"Why do you always want to help?" he asked, staring at her with confusion.

"I don't know. I just do," she said and smiled.

"You are so confusing. You know that, right?"

"I guess but is it wrong to want to help?" she asked as she reached for his right shackle.

"No, I guess not," he said then paused for a second. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she said as she fiddled with the lock.

"If you've had your courage taken away so long ago…then why did you talk to me the night I came?" he asked and she stopped for a second. "If you had no courage at all then how were you able to talk to me?"

"I…" she leaned back on her heals and hung her head. "I don't know. I…I just seemed to sense you weren't going to hurt me."

"You sensed it?" he asked, trying to look at her face. "Are you sure you don't have magic?"

"I'm positive," she said and looked at him slightly. "Maybe I had that sixth sense thing that animals have. You know, the thing where they know a natural danger is near. Maybe I could sense a good person."

"Me? A good person," he said and shook his head. "That's like saying a zebra doesn't have stripes."

"But you are a good person," she said. "Why do you always say you aren't?"

"Because I know myself better than you do. I know what I'm capable of and what I'm not capable of and I'm not capable of being a 'good' person," he said and looked away. "Stop making me something I'm not. It just can't happen."

"Fakir, if you are as bad as you think you are then why _did_ I talk to you?" she asked. "Why didn't I just run away? There must be a reason why I found courage that wasn't there to even show my face to you."

He looked at her and thought maybe she was right. Maybe she had a point. What if he wasn't so bad? What if he could have more of a heart than he thought he did? But how would she know something like that? How was she able to look at him and see something that couldn't be seen?

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "It's possible you're right but it doesn't make sense seeing how you still can't find a reason for Drosselmeyer hating you so much. I don't think any 'animal powers' could explain his stupid obsession with hurting you."

"I knew you cared," she whispered even softer than the rest of the conversation.

"What?"

"You just showed that you cared," she said and bit her lip again. "How can you not see it?"

"Because…I'm blind?" he asked, not really sure why he couldn't see it. She was right. He couldn't see his own kindness and he couldn't seem to make himself believe that he had it.

She giggled softly and hugged him saying, "You're funny too."

"I'm funny?" he mouthed to the night air then he realized she was hugging him again. "Let go. I don't…like hugs."

"Okay," she said and pulled away. "Do you still need help with the chains?"

"Huh?" he asked, nearly forgetting the reason she came over in the first place. "Oh, the chains. I…I don't think there's a point to try anymore. The magic won't let me…"

He was just messing with the locks for the heck of it and…it opened. It actually opened. His hand fell from the metal cuff and he looked at it in astonishment.

"How…"

"Wow, you did it," Duck said with her mouth open in a large smile.

He looked up at her and said, "But how? I couldn't do it earlier. Why was I able to do it now?"

"Just be happy you did," she said and shrugged. "Maybe you just needed a break."

"Doubt that," he said and worked at the other one. "Hopefully this one will open too."

It did.

"You're free," Duck grinned.

"As free as a fish in a shark tank. I may have gotten out of the shackles but we're still trapped in this circus," he said as he rubbed his wrists. "I really got far. Yay."

"It's one small step towards a better life though," Duck said and he just looked at her.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"We're can make our lives the way we want them, it just takes time and you took the first step," she said.

"When did you become a philosopher?" he asked.

"What's a philo…philo-soffer?" she asked.

"Someone who's all wise in the way of life and happiness. When did you know the way to make yourself happy?"

"It was just something that Rue used to say all the time. Why? Does it sound stupid?" she asked.

"No, it just doesn't sound like something you'd say," he said and leaned his head back. "Finally, I can feel my hands again."

"Do they hurt?"

"Not really, just couldn't feel them for the past who-knows-how-many hours. You should really get some sleep," he said, looking at her from the side.

"Okay," she said and snuggled next to him.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" he asked, moving away.

"I just wanted to be next to you," she said and tilted her head. "Is there something wrong with me doing that?"

"Uh…sort of."

"Sort of? What do you mean?" she asked, not understanding his reaction.

"You…you, um, didn't ask and…and I didn't…" he couldn't think of something to say. "You just didn't ask."

"Can I sleep next to you?" she asked.

He wasn't expecting her to actually ask him. He totally set himself up for this awkward moment and he was beating himself up inside. He was yelling at himself and he just couldn't believe he couldn't come up with a better excuse that that. Didn't she know how weird it was to ask something like that? Apparently not.

"Uh…I guess," he said and scratched his head. "I don't really see why not."

"Thanks," she said and leaned against his shoulder with a smile. "Night Fakir."

"Yeah, okay," he said.

* * *

I know this is a short chapter and all but I thought it was kinda cute. I don't know just how much longer it will take to get to the real action but it will be coming soon. For those of you still reading this then THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH.

Please tell me what you think of it and if you had any good/bad criticism. Any and all reviews are really appreciated.

I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am.


	9. Finally An Escape

Hey readers. You will not believe how stupid I feel right now. I had accidently put a chapter for my Wizard of Oz fanfic in this chapter's place and if it wasn't for someone leaving a comment I would never have known.

Thank you so much for leaving that comment and now everyone can read the real chapter that belongs here.

My god I feel like a moron. (no seriously, I was hitting myself in the head saying that)

* * *

Chapter 9

FINALLY, AN ESCAPE

"Well, isn't this just sweet," Pique's voice broke into Fakir's sleep.

He slowly opened his eyes to see the pink haired girl, alongside the blonde, standing in front of him and grinning from ear to ear. At first he didn't understand what they were doing or what she had meant by cute then he realized, he fell asleep with his head resting on Duck's.

He jerked his head away and rolled his eyes saying, "What the hell is wrong with you two? Can't you wake someone up normally?"

"So, are you two in love?" Lillie asked, randomly bending over to do a bridge.

"There is no such thing as love and she asked to come over here. I'm still not sure why," he said and looked at the girl who was still sound asleep on his shoulder. He really couldn't help but think she was cute, just like a little puppy who had way too much trust in its owner.

"It would be a good thing to wake her up because Drosselmeyer will be coming over here soon," Rue said over by Mytho.

They were both still sitting down and she seemed to have been having a conversation with him but once the others woke she stopped. It was more like she was talking to herself but you get the drift.

"Damn that jerk," Fakir mumbled under his breath. He then used his left arm and poked the girl in the head. "Hey, moron, wake up. Come on, get off my shoulder, I'd like to use my arm again."

"Huh?" she said and moved her head a bit. "What?" She soon realized that she had fallen asleep on his shoulder and jerked herself up to a sitting position. "OMG, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that, it was an accident I swear."

"Calm down. I was only kidding," he said, a bit confused by her reaction.

"Oh," she said and looked down.

He just rolled his eyes and stood up, making the others who had slept through Duck and Fakir's conversation the night before stare.

"What?" he asked.

"How did you unchain yourself?" Rue asked. "It was surrounded by Drosselmeyer's magic."

"I don't know," he shrugged and looked down at Duck. "I was just talking to her. Nothing happened, they just came off after a while."

"Now that's very interesting. Wouldn't you say, Mytho?" Rue asked.

"I guess," he said, his eyes staring forward blankly.

"Well, well, well. We're all you are we?" Drosselmeyer's voice said from behind Duck.

"QUACK!" she yelled and leapt behind Fakir.

"It seems someone lied about having magic, didn't they?" he said, looking directly at Fakir.

"Oh, go to hell Drosselmeyer. I didn't lie and you know I didn't because of that…thing you did to me when I first came," Fakir said, glaring back.

"Is that right? Well, it seems that someone helped you. Is there a spy that's been helping you?" he asked with an evil grin.

"You're really going to go there?" Fakir asked.

"I just did."

"Ooh, he went there, had lunch, and came back," Pique said.

"And now he's probably kicking himself for it because if he goes there again, I'll make sure he never comes back," Fakir said.

"How would you do that, may I ask?" Drosselmeyer asked.

"You may ask, but it doesn't mean you'll get an answer," Fakir stated.

"That would mean you don't know what you'd do, is that correct?"

"Nope, just means I'm not giving you a freaking answer so deal with it," Fakir said.

"Now, that's no way to treat your Ringmaster, now is it? You wouldn't do it if it meant a certain little performer gets hurt," Drosselmeyer said and grinned wider.

"Oh hell no. Don't you dare hurt Duck. This is between you and me buddy and I am NOT going to give in, ever," Fakir said grabbing the bars that blocked him from the crazy old man.

"We'll see about that," Drosselmeyer said and waved his hand.

Just as he made the motion, Duck cried out in pain and grabbed her neck. It was almost as if an invisible hand was choking her and she started to cry.

"No! Stop it! You'll kill her like that!" Rue cried, her eyes beginning to water.

"Leave her alone!" Fakir yelled.

He wanted to somehow help the girl but he knew he had no power against magic, especially magic that could kill. His muscles tensed and he clenched his teeth but he didn't move. He knew it would be pointless and so he just stood there watching, until he got an idea.

"Pique, teleport us out of here," he whispered to her.

She looked at him in surprise and confusion and said, "But, I don't think I could do it right."

"Just do it," he muttered.

"Okay, here goes nothing," she took in a deep breath and said the magic words while waving her hands. "Vocidy-romady!"

Within seconds, the wind began to swirl and what looked like a tornado of black clouds began to take shape over the wagon. Pique had a hard time controlling it and it got too big for her power. It went wild! It ripped the top off the wagon, it flung Drosselmeyer across the circus, causing him to let go of Duck, and it headed straight for his trailer. Because of the power it had, it was able to lift the entire trailer off the ground and make it disappear into the sky.

Rue had run over to Duck to make sure she was okay while Mytho and Fakir watched the destruction of the circus with silent awe, unlike Pique and Lillie who were looking back and forth between each other and the circus with their mouths hanging open.

When the tornado finally dissipated, Drosselmeyer stood up and looked at the group of young people with hate in his eyes. He marched right over to them and instead of grabbing Duck he grabbed Fakir and thrust him against the fallen wagon.

"How dare you!?" he yelled. "You've ruined my circus. You've ruined my life and you've also lost all that I have taken from you…I shouldn't have said that."

"Wait, the things that you took from us are…gone?" Fakir asked. "Am I to assume that means we can leave?"

"Oh, my god, Fakir's right!" Rue said, her face lighting up. "Now that he doesn't have what binds us to the contract, we can leave."

"We can leave?" Duck whispered from behind Mytho.

"We can leave!" Pique and Lillie said in unison.

"Now, perhaps you should have thought about how you treated us," Fakir said, pushing Drosselmeyer's hand away. "If you treated us better, mostly Duck, then this might not have happened."

"No! You can't leave. I own you!" he cried as Fakir began to walk away.

"Like hell you do. You're done, washed up and the sooner you realize that the better because we aren't ever coming back," Fakir said and flipped the old man off.

"How dare you, Fakir!? I will get you. I will get that little bird too. I will get all of you, even if it takes me a hundred years," Drosselmeyer shouted.

"Can't wait to see it," Fakir said smugly. "Just gave him a taste of his own damn medicine."

They all walked to the edge of the circus and paused, all looking at each other and thinking. Would they really be able to leave? What if Drosselmeyer had been lying about losing the taken objects? What if they were just heading into a trap? There was only one way to find out and Fakir took the first step.

He did it! He was outside the circus and he calmly looked back at the others, giving them a gesture to follow. All silent, all hoping that this wasn't just a dream; they passed through the once invisible wall and into the big open field that lay outside the circus. They were finally free!


	10. Going to the Big City

I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU! So, here I am...saying thank you to all who are commenting/reviewing on my stories. It really makes me happy and inspires me to continue writing.

author2b3, you are so right, it is very ironic how many Wizard of Oz refs are in this. If those of you don't get the irony then I'll give you a hint: it has something to do with another fanfic I'm doing. (cough cough the Wizard of Gold Crown cough cough)

So, here is another chapter to my cool little idea that literally came out of nowhere and I hope you guys enjoy it just as much as the other chapters.

* * *

Chapter 10

GOING TO THE BIG CITY

Before they had actually left the circus grounds, Fakir had grabbed his sword and his cloak. He knew that the walk to the city was going to take far longer than a day and he wanted to be at least a bit prepared for the night.

The field was huge. It spanned many miles in all directions and it had several patches of just flowers that spotted along the landscape. Duck was soooo thrilled. She was running around, picking flowers and skipping and laughing and just being overjoyed about being thrilled.

Everyone watched her with a silent joy. They had never seen her so happy and even Fakir had a hard time keeping a glare on his face. He also seemed to notice her wings. They were actually real. For some reason, Fakir never realized that before. The way he could tell they were real was because every now and then they would open and flap about twice before folding back in.

He looked silently at the wings for a while until he decided to ask Rue a question. He made his way over to the fortune teller, who was walking with Mytho, and asked his question.

"Can Duck fly?"

She looked at him for a second, not quite sure she understood the question and he rolled his eyes.

"Can Duck fly? She has wings, can she fly?" he asked.

"Oh," Rue said, he brain finally deciphering the strange question. "No, she can't. Her wings are too small. They need to be at least a foot longer on either end of her arm span but as you can see they barely reach past her elbows."

"Has she ever tried to fly?"

"No, she's never given any thought to do something like that," Rue said as she watched the three younger girls running around. "She's like a duckling. Too young to fly."

"Huh. Seems pointless to have wings but not use them," Fakir said, putting his hands in his pockets. "That sucks."

"Tell me about it. I feel so sorry for her though. She hasn't had any chances to do anything important and I can see it bothers her too," Rue said with a sigh. "Sometimes I just wish I could take her place."

"Fakir," Mytho said and stared blankly at him. "What is anger?"

Fakir looked at the white haired boy with confusion.

"Well, that came out of nowhere," he said.

"Why do you have anger?" Mytho asked again.

"Because that's who I am. I'm an angry person. I don't know where it comes from or why I have it, but it's there," Fakir said.

"What does it mean?"

"Mytho, why are you asking these things?" Rue asked.

"Lillie said Fakir was an angry person but I don't know what anger is," he said and stared in front of him.

"It's something that you never want because it continues to ruin your life," Fakir said. "Believe me, I've lived with it my whole life. It's hell."

"Then why don't you change it?" Rue asked.

"Oh, right. I can totally change who I am just because…I don't like it. You've lived too long in that circus, you've forgotten what real people are like. They can't change, and neither can I," he said, glaring at the horizon.

Rue was about to make a statement when Duck ran up and pushed a flower into each person's hand.

"One for you, one for you and one for you," she gave a flower to Fakir last and he looked at it, kinda surprised. It was a blue flower and it looked very out of place against his dirty, black shirt. He looked up at the girl who gave it to him and she smiled. "I hope you like it."

He didn't have any idea of what to say. He felt the eyes of Rue and Mytho on him with anticipation but of what they were anticipating, he didn't know. Was this a normal thing that Duck did? He did live at the same circus with the girl for nearly a month but he didn't know any of her habits or quirks that would have given him a heads up on this little act of kindness. Well, maybe it was just out of joy and kindness that she did this or maybe…it meant something…more.

"Uh, thanks?" he asked in a mutter. How was he supposed to react? He had never been given a flower before and it was a bit embarrassing at how speechless he was. Oh, no…it wasn't because he thought that maybe she liked him, no. That wasn't it. He just didn't have people skills. He wasn't a people person and he had no idea how to be sensitive.

"No problem," she said and skipped away.

He stared after her. Why was she so freaking nice? Being like that in the city was bound to get her into a lot of trouble and he knew it.

"Isn't she just so sweet?" Rue asked as she smelled her red flower.

"Yeah, sure," Fakir mumbled.

"I have no idea where she got it from. It definitely wasn't from Pique or Lillie," she said with a smile.

"Maybe it was from you," Mytho said, not even realizing her hand a plant in his hand.

"Awe, thanks Mytho," she said and wrapped her arm around his.

Fakir couldn't stand it. He rolled his eyes and slowed down a bit so he wasn't next to them. He hated anything doing with romance and it showed on his face. For some reason, Duck couldn't see it. All she saw was Fakir being negative and alone so she decided to go and talk to him even though she had just left him.

"Hey Fakir," she said happily from behind him.

It startled him a little and he swung his around to see the bird-girl standing behind him.

"Duck? How did you get back there?" he asked.

"Um, I walk slow?" she asked angelically. "Actually, I was just picking some flowers over there and I got so into picking the prettiest ones that I kinda got left behind. Has that ever happened to you? You know, you're walking with someone and you see something that makes you stop and you stare or whatever and soon realized that the person you were walking with was way ahead of you and you have to run to catch up with them again. You know what I mean?"

He was staring at her with confused awe.

"I don't know how you can talk like that without taking a breath. It's ridiculous," he said and she just grinned. "You are such a mystery to me."

"So are you. I don't get how you never seem to have fun or anything. You're always so serious and you get mad easily and you…"

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there because I want you to actually breath when you talk and I don't want you to go off on some tangent," he said and rolled his eyes. "I know what you mean though. I still don't understand myself sometimes and it just…it just bothers me how I'm so…I don't know. I really don't know."

"Maybe if you just talked with people you could figure out what is bothering you," she said with a happy grin. "Who knows, maybe the only way to get the answer you need is from someone else. Oh well, just a thought."

How was she still able to surprise him like that? How could she still say things that made him put his guard down? He was so confused by who she was. She acted so much like a kid most of the time and yet she would say things that would actually make sense as if she was a genius. Why couldn't he just put her in one category and let her stay there? It was so confusing.

"So, uh, you think that if I spoke to people about what I feel then they could help me figure out what upsets me?" he asked, trying to make sure he wasn't hearing things.

"Yep, pretty much. It seems to me that you hold things in and try to fight the battles on your own when you have people who could help," she said and looked down. "That's how I've survived all these years. I've put my trust into my friends and they've helped me."

"Oh yeah, Pique and Lillie have totally helped you. I can see that part of your trust worked out well."

"Huh? Well, Pique and Lillie aren't always the nicest but they still try. It's the best any of us could do," she said softly.

"Yeah, but like some wise old weirdo once said, 'do or do not, there is no try.' If you aren't going to succeed, then why even bother?" Fakir said.

"Because you'd just be giving up and that's not something a hero would do," she said.

"Hero?" he asked and looked down at her. "Are you saying you think I'm a hero? Or are you talking about someone else?"

"Um, if I say I'm talking about you…would you be mad?" she asked.

"Not exactly but I would definitely deny it," he said looking back in front of him. "Hero, right. I'd be a horrible hero and don't say I wouldn't…I just know I would. Being a hero means to be self-sacrificing and I doubt I could do that. I doubt I'd even try."

He looked down at the ground and put his hands in his pockets again. He was silent…and so was she. She seemed to be able to realize that what they were talking about was upsetting him but why, she couldn't figure it out. She thought she would ask him, but at a later time. He didn't look like he wanted to talk anymore and she felt it was her fault for making him upset so she just walked away.

As the day progressed, Duck noticed that still, Fakir was silent. He only looked around every once and a while and he had no sign of how he felt or was thinking on his face. Sometimes he acted a lot like Mytho, only angrier.

They were walking for a very long time and soon Duck couldn't ignore the hunger pains in her stomach. She didn't want to be nuisance by complaining but she was really hungry and she wanted to know if they were going to stop anytime soon.

She got lucky. She wasn't the only one who was hungry. In fact, all of them were hungry and Fakir was able to lead them to an old lodge that seemed to be empty. It didn't mean that it was deserted, it just meant that no one was home and they raided the pantry. Guess the owners didn't know that locks had been invented yet because the front door had no lock but even if it did, Fakir could have easily opened it.

They scrammed after taking some bread and stuff and continued on their way to the city. It was already after noon and the sun was making the long journey even harder than it needed to be. Duck, who wasn't used to walking for such a long time in the hot sun, started to not feel good and she nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

"Duck? Duck are you okay?" Rue asked, helping the girl stand.

"I…I don't feel very good and my feet hurt," she said softly.

"Great. Something else to prolong our journey," Fakir mumbled.

"Fakir, have a heart. She's young and this is something very new to her. Don't get all upset over something she can't control and besides, she might be getting heat stroke," Rue said and put her hand on Duck's forehead.

"Ooh, heat stroke. It sounds bad," Lillie said.

"Well, duh. You CAN get sick from overheating in the sun," Pique said. "Jeez, I thought you'd know that."

"Yeah, okay, that could be really bad and all but if we want to get to the city before this time tomorrow then we need to keep moving," Fakir said.

"And how do you suggest we keep going when Duck could be sick?" Rue asked.

He rolled his eyes and stepped towards the girl. "Ugh, I guess I'll just have to carry her, okay? She's not that heavy and we can use my freaking cloak to shield her from the sun. Can we just get going?"

Rue stared at him with surprise as he placed the cloak over Duck's frail body and carefully picked her up. She looked like she was about to pass out and she leaned her head against his shoulder with relief. He didn't even look down at her. He just started walking and it wasn't long before the others soon caught up with him.

By the time they reached a decent place to rest for the night Duck had fallen asleep in his arms. She was breathing softly and Fakir couldn't help but think she was lucky to be able to sleep so peacefully. He knew that even though they were out of the circus, Drosselmeyer would still be after them, after him and he couldn't let the other performers get hurt. He felt an obligation to protect them. It was a feeling he didn't understand but he knew he had to obey it or shiz would happen.

He placed Duck down gently and immediately grabbed Mytho to gather fire wood. It would get cold at night and he knew that. He also knew that the others would probably freeze if they didn't have a fire going and so that was why he was out getting the fire wood.

"Fakir?" Mytho asked as they broke twigs and small branches off the thin trees that were scattered around the area.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you know about the Raven?" he asked, slowly picking up fallen twigs.

"Uh, yeah. I've suffered under his reign for nine years now," Fakir said and looked at the white haired boy from the corner of his eye. "Why?"

"Do you think he is responsible for the circus?"

"Uh, no. It was because Drosselmeyer was fired from the King's service. Don't you ever listen to Rue when she talks or do you seriously sit there and let what she says go in one ear and out the other?" Fakir asked, looking at the other boy.

"I don't know."

"You never know anything do you?" Fakir asked. "Wow, I had no idea that losing your heart would also make you a moron. I'll keep that in mind the next time I plan on cutting someone's heart out."

"What will happen if no one can stop the Raven?" Mytho asked.

"Complete annihilation," Fakir said. "Simple enough so don't ask how, I have no idea."

"Okay."

Fakir rolled his eyes and continued to find more fire wood. He wouldn't admit it but he was thinking about what could happen if the Raven wasn't stopped. Would anyone survive? If no one did then where did the stories come from? Someone has to have survived so maybe there was a chance life wouldn't end for the kingdom but it was like .0000001 out of a million.

He was thinking about it even as he started the fire and watched the rest of the group get situated around it. He stood off to the side and looked at them. They were all talking about something that he could care less about but he knew that it was something that was keeping their spirits up.

The only person, besides himself, who wasn't in the group was Duck but she was sleeping, his cloak still covering her small, partially feathered body. The firelight bounced off her feathers in such a way that at one point he thought she had normal hair. The orange light blended in so well with her hair/feathers that it actually made her look normal. He had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things and eventually came to the conclusion that he was making himself paranoid.

It wasn't long before the others fell asleep and he decided to stay up and keep watch, just in case they randomly got attacked by something. See? Paranoid. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep so he got comfortable sitting against a rock and poking at the fire with a stick. It was so hypnotizing that he soon calmed down enough to doze off and soon he was in a light sleep.

He may have been able to get to sleep somewhat peacefully but Rue was having a hard time staying asleep. She had a horrible nightmare that made her sweat with fright and shake uncontrollably. Don't know if that's considered a seizure or not but that's what happened.

In her dream she was just walking through the field hence they came and was watching Duck happily when a large shadow came up from behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks and her heart began to beat faster. She recognized the shadow. She knew who's it was and she knew who it was after. She tried to call for Duck to run but no sound came from her throat and she felt her body being forced to turn around. She wanted to close her eyes but she couldn't and what she saw made her scream in terror. It was the Raven! He was looking right at her and he had a wicked smile on his evil face.

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she cried as she tried to run.

Her legs wouldn't move. She was frozen by fear and even her shouts seemed to only be coming from her head. She hadn't actually screamed. She hadn't actually made any plea or shout.

The Raven swooped in closer and just before he grabbed her she bolted up.

She looked around, breathing heavy and started to cry. She had never been so scared in her life and she didn't know what it meant. The Raven was after her, she knew that, and she also knew that he was also after Duck. She was scared. Now that she was out of the circus and getting closer to the kingdom she knew from the deepest depths of her heart that her nightmares would get worse and eventually they would come true. Reason number one why she hated being a fortune teller.

As she sat there crying as softly as she could she felt a touch her shoulder. She looked up to see Mytho as the person who owned the hand. She wiped away her tears and tried to smile at the boy but she knew that even without a heart he could see something was wrong.

"I'm sorry Mytho," she sniffled. "Did I wake you up?"

"Yes," he said then sat next to her. "Are you okay?"

"I…I…" she couldn't say yes or no. She looked at his honey brown eyes and broke into more sobs. She buried her face into his shoulder and cried as softly as she could, "I don't know what to do Mytho. I fear I'm endangering all of you by being here."

"Why?"

"The Raven is after me," Rue whispered.

"Why?"

"I'm…I'm…" she stuttered. She couldn't say why. She first had to know she could trust him not to tell the others anything she was about to say. "Mytho, can you keep a secret?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise not to tell the others anything I'm about to say?" she asked, her head moving up and down with his every breath.

"Yes."

"I…I'm the Raven's…daughter."


	11. The City of Despair

Yay! Meeting new characters is fun. So, we're starting to get a bit further into the story and stuff so hopefully more exciting things will happen soon.

I hope you guys enjoy it. I'm definitely having fun writing Altor, I hope you guys like his character just as much as I do. (he's a bit different from the show so...yeah)

* * *

Chapter 11

THE CITY OF DESPAIR

In the morning, after everyone was up, they continued their journey and no one seemed to notice just how upset Rue seemed to be. She was walking silently with Mytho and he just stared straight ahead, nothing showing on his face of what he had learned the night before. It was normal for him to look like that but what was unusual was how Rue seemed to be dozing off on his shoulder WHILE they were walking.

She was exhausted. After her nightmare she couldn't go back to sleep and she cried for the rest of the night into Mytho's shoulder. He didn't mind. He didn't even understand why she was doing what she was doing but he knew it wasn't something good. He wished so much to know what it meant. He wanted to be able to share her pain or even understand it but he couldn't and if he could feel he would feel sad.

Duck felt much better in the morning however and she was able to walk the rest of the way by herself even though Fakir kept on telling her not to exert herself too much cause he didn't want to have to carry her again. She was able to see the city better from where they were and it looked exciting and mysterious at the same time. Fakir thought it looked depressing and dangerous but he kept his thoughts to himself. They didn't need to know what he thought and he didn't plan on letting them know.

Pique and Lillie were still trying to wake up when they reached some train tracks about an hour later. They were rubbing their eyes and yawning and just whining about having to wake up so early.

"Why did we have to get up so early, again? The sun wasn't even up yet," Pique asked.

"We can travel further when it's not hot outside and we were out in the open. Perfect for an attack," Fakir said as he studied the tracks.

"Wow, you think of everything, don't you Fakir?" Duck asked, looking up at him with wonder.

"Think like your enemy and right now our enemy is Drosselmeyer. If I was him I would have waited for us to fall asleep then attack. We'd be unprepared and easy to catch, it's just that simple," he said with a shrug.

"Oh, I would never have thought of that," Duck said.

"You wouldn't have thought of leaving that stupid circus if it wasn't for me," he said and looked down at her. "You're welcome."

"Oh, thank you," she said and smiled.

He rolled his eyes and stepped onto the tracks. He looked down as far as he could and groaned.

"What is it?" Duck asked.

"I have no idea what we should do. We could follow these tracks and hope we find a small town or something or we could just continue to cut through these big fields," he said and shook his head. "I don't know which would be a better choice."

"Why?"

"Well, it's unlikely that there would be a town this close to the city so we might end up walking further than if we tried to get to the city but then again…" his voice trailed off in thought and Duck also thought.

"Well, we are already headed to the city so let's just keep going that way," she said and smiled up at him. "It's the best I could think of."

He looked down at her and thought for a few more moments. She could be right. Sometimes simple things are better than complex things. She had shown him that many times and they seemed to work pretty good…so far.

"Okay, we'll just continue to the city," he said and stepped off the tracks.

As he began walking away he felt Duck catch up and walk beside him, sort of skipping but not quite.

"So, what are you going to do when we get to the city?" she asked.

"We're going to see my adopted brother at his shop and see if there's any way to stop the Raven. I know it seems pointless but if the rest of the city isn't going to try and save itself then someone might as well try," he said.

"Who's your brother? Is he famous or something?" Duck asked.

"He sure as hell should be but because of the Raven inventers go through more crap than a manure sails man. He can't get his shop off the ground and because of freaking Drosselmeyer kidnapping me I couldn't help him," Fakir grumbled. "I was going to go to the mountains to get stuff for him and also to get away from the Raven's rule for a while but…you know the rest."

"Oh, that's horrible," Duck said.

"I've been through worse. It's nothing to get upset over," he said, staring straight ahead, his eyes showing he actually was really pissed. (when is he never pissed) - million dollar question right there.

"I'm sorry," she said and looked at him.

"What?" he wasn't expecting that and he looked down at her. He half-expected her to suddenly grin at him and say something like a dumb kid would say but she was very sincere. Her eyes were full of compassion and it was obvious she really did feel sorry for him.

"I'm very sorry about what happened to you and your brother," she said and grabbed his hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

"Uh, you…you should feel sorrier about your own life," he said and wiggled his hand out of hers. "We can cope in the real world but you, you have no idea what's in store for you at the city."

"Okay," she with a small grin. "I trust you."

There was that word again. Trust. Why did she have so much of it? How could she ever trust anyone after what she had gone through? He didn't understand her and he wasn't sure if he ever would. Girls were a mystery and even worse she was part animal/part bird. Animals were another huge mystery to him and he wasn't sure just how he would handle anything like her. A girl and a bird, two big mysteries mixed together. No wonder she continued to surprise him.

They all walked for another how-the-hell-should-I-know-how-many-hours until they finally got to the city. Up close, it was even bigger than Duck had imagined and she stared at the tall metal buildings in awe. A world of metal machines and buildings. It was something that Duck could never dream of in a million years and as they made their way deeper into the streets the darker it seemed to get. It was very much like Gotham City…only worse in more ways than one.

Number 1: no Batman.

Number 2: the sky wasn't just covered in clouds daily, they were also thick with smog.

Number 3: the buildings were falling under disrepair and many looked like they were about to fall over.

Number 4: there really wasn't one but give Fakir time…he'll think of something.

Well, as it seemed the deeper they got into the city, the meaner and ruder the people became. They would push other people, they'd yell at each other for no reason, they'd get into gangs and beat up people who were alone and they also seemed to notice the strange little bird-girl. Several times people stopped her and poked at her and laughed and some even plucked a feather or two. She got scared very quickly and if it wasn't for Fakir scaring them off with his sword she could have been mobbed.

"Take my cloak Duck. Hide your back and your head. We don't need any more morons picking on you," he said as he put his sword back.

"Thanks," she whispered shakily.

She took the cloak and put it over her shoulders. It was huge. It dragged on the ground a good six inches and the hood kept falling over her face but she didn't complain. She was very grateful to have something keeping her from getting hurt that she didn't care if it had a few problems and Fakir couldn't help but be amazed yet again.

Finally they got to the shop where Fakir's brother worked and he opened the door for the others to go in. Because he was the last one in he didn't have time to warn them about Miss Edel, the counter lady. She was a mechanical person. She was one of his brother's inventions and she took care of the store for him so he could be downstairs tinkering.

"Hello, how may I help you?" a sweet but obviously fake voice asked from the machine.

"Quack!"

Miss Edel surprised Duck to the point that she hid behind Mytho and Rue.

"What is that?" Mytho asked, almost uninterested.

"Oh, that's Miss Edel. She pretty much runs the shop," Fakir explained as he stepped forward. "Hey, Edel, tell Altor someone's here to see him."

"Of course Fakir," she said and turned the top half of her body to a strange box on the wall.

"Don't tell him it's me," he said quickly.

"Of course Fakir," she said and pushed the button.

"Yeah, what?" an annoyed voice said.

"There's someone here to see you sir," she said.

"Who? Why?" the voice asked. "I'm busy."

"Yep, that's Altor. Too busy for his own brother," Fakir said loudly enough so his voice would be heard.

"Holy crap! Fakir!?" the voice asked. "I'll be right up."

The machine turned back around and grinned at the tall boy.

"Altor will be with you shortly."

"I think he figured that out Edel," the voice said but from the doorway to her left. Altor walked through the door with a strange looking screwdriver and a weird magnifying thing on his head. "Dude, it's been like forever. Where the hell have you been?"

The one thing Fakir wasn't too thrilled about seeing his brother again was the hug. He hated hugs and ones by his brother were just awkward.

"I've been…kinda stuck for the past month," Fakir said and pushed the tinkerer away.

"Stuck? Where? I could have helped you out if it was like a ditch or something," he said and laughed at his own joke. "Man, if you were seriously stuck for a month in a ditch that would have been the funniest thing to see in the world. You would have been so pissed."

"I wasn't stuck in a ditch Altor. I was stuck in a circus. I literally couldn't leave," Fakir said seriously.

"That's heavy," Altor said, his smile fading.

"Heavy?" Duck asked, peeking out from behind Mytho.

"Whoa, hey. Sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you looking for something or…"

"They're with my Altor," Fakir said.

"Big family. You've been busy," Altor said with a grin.

"Shut the hell up Altor," Fakir said grabbing his shirt. "You and I both know I hate it when you joke about things like that."

"Couldn't resist," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "So, who are they?"

"They're also from the circus," Fakir said, letting his brother go. "We all escaped together."

"You should have seen it," Pique said. "I totally destroyed the place."

"It was amazing," Lillie squealed.

"If it wasn't for Pique's mistake, we probably would still be there right now," Rue said and smiled. "Hi, I'm Rue. I can tell you right now that a small child with green hair will be operational soon."

"You mean Uzura?" Altor asked and looked at Fakir. "How did she know about Uzura?"

"She's a fortune teller. She's sees the future," Fakir said with a shrug. "So, how is that kid coming? Last time I saw her she was just a frame."

"She's almost done. I just need to add some gears here and there and a voice box and she'll be ready to work," Altor said proudly.

"Took you long enough," Fakir said.

"Hey," Altor said, looking hurt.

"I see that business is a bit slow, isn't it?" Fakir asked, changing the subject.

"Bit slow? You're kidding right? It's come to a complete stop. This town has gotten so bad that I have to put booby-traps everywhere so nothing gets taken. It's like every week someone tries to break in," Altor said. "I wanted to leave a long time ago but…I can't. I can't seem to actually get myself to leave this place."

"It isn't because of Dad is it?" Fakir asked.

"I think so," Altor said.

"Is your Dad making you stay?" Duck asked.

"No, he's passed away but he left me and Fakir this shop in his will and I just can't bring myself to leave it," Altor said.

"You might have to though," Fakir said.

"Why?"

"The reign of the Raven is almost over and the entire kingdom will be destroyed. We'll have to head to the mountains if we want to survive," Fakir explained. "However, I would first like to read up on him. I want to know if perhaps there is some way to stop him from completing the final countdown."

"Yeah, good luck with that. I seriously doubt you'd find anything on him," Altor snickered. "He's got a stern hold on all the education systems and any book about how horrible he is or how to defeat him has been destroyed. There's no way you'll get any info about him."

"It doesn't mean he can't try," Duck said sternly, poking her head out from behind Mytho.

"Who are you? You keep on poking your nose into our conversation," Altor said, looking straight at the bird-girl with a bit of distaste.

"Leave her alone, Altor," Fakir said turning the inventor away. "Her name is Duck, don't you dare laugh, and she has no courage. She gets scared easily and she's actually a lot smarter than you could possibly give her credit for. So lay off."

"Wow, a bit protective aren't you? Is she special to you or something? Maybe a bit of a crush, Fakir?" Altor said, raising his eyebrows up and down.

Fakir had a hard time restraining himself from hitting his brother but he was able to keep his hands to himself.

"We'll talk about this later Altor but right now we need to get them somewhere out of sight because we just might still be in danger," Fakir grumbled. "I know I sound paranoid but I think Drosselmeyer is still after us."

"Drosselmeyer? Who the hell would name their kid Drosselmeyer? That's the dumbest name I've ever heard," Altor said.

"But he's just as cruel as the Raven," Fakir stated.

"And even more insane, if that's even possible," Pique said.

"I think it's possible," Lillie said.

"You'd think bringing people back from the dead is possible," Pique said, rolling her eyes.

"It might be," Altor said thoughtfully. "There have been studies that show if the right amount of…"

"Don't start Altor. We have no time for it. We just need to blend in a bit more because right now, we stick out like a sore thumb," Fakir said and started pushing the others to the stairs.

"Right. Oh, before you do anything I should tell you that the people next door had to move out so I connected the two buildings…underground of course, but at least you've got some extra rooms to chill in," Altor said quickly.

"That's perfect," Fakir answered.


	12. Getting Situated

Chapter 12

GETTING SITUATED

Fakir got everyone to their respected rooms which they chose randomly and ended up helping Duck to her room. Oh, joy, he has to make sure she didn't get lost as she made her way to the only room that wasn't already occupied.

He leaned against the doorway as Duck walked in and looked around, her mouth hanging open in awe.

"Wow. This place is amazing," she whispered.

"It's a dump. These buildings suck," Fakir muttered, his arms crossed.

"I think it's amazing," she said.

"You would."

"Ooh! It even has a window! A real window," Duck said and looked out. She gasped and stepped back saying, "We're really high up."

"This is only the second level. How is that high?" Fakir asked.

"Fakir, I grew up in a circus all my life. I've never seen these things before. How do you keep forgetting that?" Duck asked, looking at him angelically.

"I don't know," he grumbled. "Do you think you can find your way back to the shop by yourself or will you get lost?"

"Get lost? I don't get lost…do I?" she asked. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm going to go change into something less stupid and I'm not going to be coming back to make sure you didn't accidentally lock yourself in a closet or something," he said. "If you do then…call for Rue or something. I've got things I need to do."

He began to leave when Duck said, "Fakir, do you really think a bunch of kids can stop the Raven?"

He turned slightly and sighed.

"I sure as hell hope so," he said and his eyes softened as he looked at her. "You don't need to worry about it Duck. I'm sure everything will work out okay in the end."

"I hope so. I don't want anything to happen to you…" she paused for a second then added, "or the others. You're all I have and all I need."

He blinked quickly. Where did that come from? He had never heard her say something so…so…intense and heartbreaking before. It took him quite by surprise and he couldn't really think of a response.

"Well, that's very…nice, Duck," he said and turned away. "You should get back to the shop soon. You and the others will need to get some other clothes so you aren't so conspicuous. And…"

"Yes?" she asked. The look he seemed to give her made her think he was going to say something else but he just turned his head again.

"Just don't get lost," he said and walked down the hall, leaving her alone.

She stood there silently for a few seconds then called, "Okay! I won't."

She didn't hear any response but she knew he heard her and she grinned a bit. He tried to be mean to her but it never actually happened. He was definitely getting a bit more of kind streak, however still small, and it showed when he spoke to her. She went over to the window and opened it. She kneeled on the window seat and stared at the street and other buildings that could be seen. It was a very bleak place that had very little joy in it but she didn't seem to see it. All she could see was the freedom from the circus and it made her happy. She was so content that she started to sing her little song again.

"I'm alone in the universe. So alone in the universe. My own planets and stars are glowing. No one notices anything, not one person is listening. They don't have any way of knowing…la la la la," she sighed.

The song seemed so sad and yet she felt so happy when she sang it. It seemed like the parts she didn't know were what made it seem so much nicer and she just wished that she knew the rest. What she didn't know was that she already knew it, all she needed was to remember it and that even as she sat there, her memory of the song was making its way into her head.

She sat there for a few more minutes before realizing that she should get back to the shop. She tried to get up too fast and she tripped over her own feet, making her fall to the floor with a loud thud.

"Quack," she said in pain.

She was struggling to a sitting position when Fakir suddenly appeared in the doorway. He had changed from his all black outfit from the circus and now wore a pair of dark brown pants, a similarly colored vest thing over a white long-sleeved shirt and he had a belt with a sword holster wrapped around his waist. He definitely looked very different to Duck and it took her a second to realize who it was.

"What did you do now, moron?" he asked.

"I fell. I was going to go to the shop when I tripped," she said and rubbed her forehead where she banged it on the floor. "It was an accident."

"Just as bad as getting lost," he said and helped her up. "Anyway, since I'm here let's get back with the others. You're going to go and get some clothes so you don't look so…abnormal."

"Aren't you coming with us?" Duck asked.

"No. I've got to stay here and help Altor with some stuff. I'm not that great when it comes to inventions but I'm good at tinkering so…that's what I'm going to do," he said as they walked to the hall. "Yeah, tinkering."

"I think you're good at that stuff," Duck said and pulled out the small bird he'd made. "I still have this that you gave me. I think it's really cute."

"That makes one of us," he mumbled.

"Why do you always put yourself down? You're really good at stuff but you always say it's really bad and stuff," she said, looking at him questioningly. "I don't understand how you can be so…"

"Lame?"

"No, I was going to say negative. It's like you don't think there's any hope and it just makes you see everything in black and white," she said. "I know you'd be much happier if you saw all the colors that are there to be seen."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. There she went again, going off with something smart and making it sound sensible. How did she do that? He couldn't help but be obviously baffled by her yet again and he was unable to give her a response.

There was an awkward silence between them as she waited for him to say something but it appeared he was going to keep his thoughts to himself…once again. She was very grateful when they reached the shop and the others.

"Well, there you are Duck," Rue said turning around. "We've been waiting for you for a while now. Come on, we're going to get some clothes."

She reached her hand out for the bird-girl to take and Duck rushed over and took it happily. They were about to go out the door when Fakir stopped them.

"Hold on Duck. Put the cloak on again. You need to keep your back hidden until you get something that will do that for you," he said, handing her the black cloth. "You don't want to get picked on again do you?"

"Oh, no. Thank you Fakir," she said with a grin. "We'll be back soon."

"Take your time. Don't hurry back," he said and Duck could see in his eyes that he was joking even though his face looked very serious. She only grinned again and waved as they left the building. Fakir waited for them all to leave, including Mytho, before turning around and nearly bumping into Altor. "Dude, don't do that. I could have run into you, you moron."

"Well, aren't we a grump? What's up with you Fakir? You don't seem like yourself recently, did something happen?" Altor asked.

"Other than a month trapped in a circus with an insane magician holding your life in the palm of his hand?" Fakir asked as he pushed past his brother. "Nothing happened."

"Obviously something happened, you're way too angry. I know it's been barely an hour since you came back but I notice things really fast and that is why I'm older than you," Altor said smugly.

"Uh, no, that's because you were born before me," Fakir said.

"Well, yeah. That's true but seriously, what's the problem? You know you can tell me anything, I'm your brother for heaven's sake," Altor said.

"My brother. I don't think I need to tell you anything because frankly…I'm not sure if I actually want you to get caught up in the crap that I'm running from," Fakir said as he entered the assembly room below the shop. "It's too much for even me."

"Fakir, you don't need to fight this battle by yourself. Look at you. You've got a group of people that are running from the same thing and want to help you but you still hide your troubles from them. Why?" Altor said and grabbed Fakir by the shoulders. "You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened in the past. It's not your fault."

"Shut up!" Fakir said and ripped himself from his brother's grasp. "Don't ever mention that to me again. I don't need to hear it."

"Yes you do!" Altor shouted, grabbing Fakir and pushing him against the wall. "When will you forget about it? You were eight years old. There was nothing you could have done except what you did. You need to stop blaming yourself!"

"I'm not bl…"

"Yes you are! You've been blaming yourself for everything ever since then and it shows that even now you are blaming yourself for what has happened to you and those other people," Altor said roughly. "But it seems you're blaming yourself for happened to that Duck girl even more."

"I am not."

"You are, now wake up and smell the coffee," Altor said and loosened his grip. "If she is so special to you then maybe you should stop being such a jerk. You're probably the reason she's so scared."

"I already told you it was because of Drosselmeyer," Fakir said and ripped Altor's hands from his shirt. "He took her courage."

"Yeah, well you aren't helping her get it back, that's for sure," Altor said and began to walk away. "You need to stop being so angry, if you can somehow pull that off you can bet the world would look a lot different."

Fakir stood there silently thinking. He wasn't glaring, he wasn't mad and he wasn't trying to make up an excuse. He actually was silent because he realized he Altor was right. Even Duck was able to see that he was angry all the time and he realized that he needed to tell his brother something very important but at the same time embarrassing.

"Altor, I have something to tell you," he said softly.

"Yeah, what?" he said, stopping on the stairs to look back.

"It's about what was taken from me and it might be a reason I'm…the way I am," Fakir said, his eyes downcast.

"What is it?"

"I…I can't smile or laugh," Fakir said very softly.

"What?"

"Drosselmeyer took my ability to be happy," Fakir said and looked up. "I can't be happy, at least I can't show it."

* * *

Okay, so I know that the thing taken from Fakir is pretty lame but come on...don't we all wish we could have heard Fakir laugh at least once in the show? I know that was something I wanted to hear.

Anyway, I sure hope this story is enjoyable enough to read because soon it'll get even more exciting...I hope.

I really hope you guys like it so far and thank you to all who have been sticking with me through all of this. Just a heads up, I'm nowhere near done. :D Tee hee.


	13. The First Recovery

Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to upload another chapter but the past few weeks have been so freaking wierd I don't even know where to start. So, I might not be uploading very fast until like summer starts but at least I'll be uploading. I promise I will finish this story because frankly I love where I could go with this.

I definitely hope you guys are enjoying this story just as much as I am and I really can't wait to do more for you guys. Oh, and thanks a million for everyone with their super awesome comments. It really makes me very happy to hear what you guys think about it and I really like how some of you catch the few little references I put in there.

P.S.

I just had my birthday and my older sister surprised me with a (guess what) Princess Tutu cake. Man I squealed like a freaking fangirl which by the way is very rare.

Please keep commenting. It really inspires me to do more and a lot make me laugh. (thank you Author2be3 and Rose...etc for commenting so much. You guys are so nice with your positive stuff and funny things.) I really am having a hard time coming up with the correct words right now so yeah.

* * *

Chapter 13

THE FIRST RECOVERY

"Hey, Fakir! We're back!" Duck called as she raced into the shop.

He wasn't there and he didn't answer. She looked around and saw Edel smiling at her with her blank expression.

"Excuse me, do you know where Fakir is?" Duck asked, slowly walking to the mechanical lady.

"He is downstairs miss. Would you like me to call him up?" she asked.

"Oh, no that's okay. I'll just go show him my new dress," she said and waved happily to the machine. "Thank you."

"Of course, miss."

Duck raced down the stairs and would you believe it? She tripped on the third to last step, crashing into an old box or junk that was piled against the wall.

"Ow. Darn it, that hurt," she said, stuck on her face under the pile of coils and scrap metal.

"What the hell was that?" Altor asked as he opened the door. He looked down and saw Duck in the heap. He grinned and stepped back saying, "Seems your friends are back Fakir."

"Yeah, and?" Fakir's voice called from inside the room.

"You might want to greet them and see what they got. That would be something nice to do," he said as he watched Duck struggle to a crumpled sitting position.

"Fine," Fakir groaned as he made his way to the door. Once he reached it and looked down at the bird-girl all covered in old junk he went to help her saying, "Oh good god. How do you seem to keep finding every single uneven part of the ground? Didn't you trip just a few hours ago?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," she said sadly then looked at the pile she had wrecked. "I'm really, really sorry about that stuff. I hope I didn't break anything."

"It doesn't really matter, most that stuff was broken anyway," Altor said.

"Now it's even worse. More tiny pieces for us to clean up," Fakir muttered looking down at the pile in disgust.

"Yeah, well you won't have to worry about that because you need to help her," Altor said as he reached for a broom just inside the door.

"Why?"

"Are you blind? She's hurt. She scraped her arm," Altor said. "Go get it cleaned up before it gets infected."

"Why me?"

"Because you are her friend. I don't know these people so it would be very strange if I were to help them with stuff like that," he said as he swept.

"Can't Rue do it? I'm almost done with the back of Uzura's head," Fakir said miserably.

"Just go. God, if you aren't going to be a brother to me you might as well be one to her," Altor said, pushing Fakir toward the door to the tunnel. "Just clean it and put a bandage around it. I don't think that will kill you."

"With Duck it just might," Fakir said.

He took Duck's uninjured arm and led her to the bathroom in the connected building. Duck was silent. She was a bit afraid that she had put Fakir in a bad mood and was now second guessing herself about showing him the dress. Why did he seem so grumpy? Shouldn't he be happy that he was home?

The thing that Duck didn't know was that Fakir was in one of those moods when he gets interrupted from something he was doing. It happens to a lot of people who are either good in their field or really enjoy it…he didn't seem like the kind of guy who would enjoy his job but that's just what it seemed like to Duck.

They reached the bathroom and he got out some of the bandage stuff and a small damp rag. Duck stood their silently. She didn't know what to do so she just watched him and he seemed to feel her eyes on the back of his head.

"What?" he asked as he dug around under the sink.

"Huh?" she asked startled.

"What are you looking at?" he asked then turned around. "Well? Aren't you going to sit down?"

"Oh, right. Sorry," she apologized and sat on the toilet lid.

Fakir stopped. She kept on apologizing. He looked closer at her and she had that look of fear again and she didn't look him in the eye. Oh snap, did he scare her? Was Altor right? Was he the reason Duck was always so scared?

He took a deep breath and stood up.

"Duck," he said.

"Uh…y…yes?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," he said.

She looked at him, surprised. He was sorry? Sorry for what? He hadn't done anything wrong…did he?

"Huh?"

"I didn't mean to…snap at you. I'm just stressed out right now. I can't think straight and everything just seemed like it used to be when I was in the shop," he said and went back to searching for a small bandage. "I just don't know how we'll get out of this before the Raven goes 'pow'!"

"We'll figure something out," Duck said and smiled slightly as he looked at her from the corner of his eye. "I just know we will."

There was that positive attitude again. How the hell did she keep that up even though just a second ago she was nearly peeing herself with fear? When would she stop confusing him?

He grabbed what he was looking for and started cleaning off Duck's arm when Rue walked into the doorway.

"When the Princess returns the terror of the Raven will end," she said, her eyes staring off into the distance.

"What?" Fakir asked, looking at her with annoyed confusion.

"Oh, there you are Duck. I thought you might have been in your room but since you're with Fakir I guess…" she began to leave when Fakir stopped her.

"Okay, stop doing that," he said.

"Doing what?" Rue asked, her eyes wide.

"You would say something that makes no sense and act as if you never said it," he said.

"Fakir, did you forget? She has those flash-forwards that randomly happen and she can't help but say stuff," Duck said. "It probably means nothing to us."

"Oh, I had another one of those? What did I say this time?" Rue asked, exasperated.

"Something like 'when the Princess returns the terror of the Raven will end'. I really don't get what you mean by that," Fakir said.

"Oh, the Princess is probably talking about the surviving Princess of Gold Crown," Rue said then covered her mouth. "Oh crap, I mean…the Princess of Gold Crown that was killed nine years ago."

"The Princess is still alive?" Fakir asked. "Why didn't you tell us!?"

"No, no…she isn't alive. She was killed. I swear, if she was alive she would probably have returned by now," Rue said as she tried to get away from Fakir's glaring eyes.

He grabbed her arm and held her in place.

"What aren't you telling us, Rue? If there is any way we could get the Princess back then what the hell are we doing here?" he asked, his anger boiling over. "We could be out there looking for her so we can kill that damn Raven!"

"Not so loud," Rue shushed. "He has spies everywhere, he could find us easily if you say something like that."

"And how would you know that if you lived most of your life in a circus?" Fakir asked.

"Fakir, please stop," Duck asked pulling on his arm. "You'll hurt her. Please, don't be so mean. You don't need to be."

Fakir stopped and looked at Duck. She was right, of course. Why was he getting mad at Rue? Even if that Princess was alive how would they find her? Why was he thinking that THEY should find her? They were just a group of teens. What could they do to save an entire kingdom?

He stepped away from Rue and took another deep breath to calm himself down.

"You know what…fine. You take care of Duck and I'll just go back to Altor and finish up on Uzura. You can keep all the stupid little secrets you want from the others but I know you know something," he said as he passed the fortune teller. "I may be a tinkerer but I'm not stupid. I know there's more to your story than meets the eye."

Rue just watched silently as Fakir walked away. She looked at Duck and forced a reassuring grin on her face.

"Sit back down Duck. You shouldn't worry about what he said. He's just working himself up over nothing. Boys are like that," she said and took over wrapping the scrape on Duck's lower arm. "Until you meet the right one, you should just stay away from them."

"Okay," Duck said and sat quietly for a while. She thought and finally asked, "Rue, what happened when the Raven took over the kingdom?"

"Well, the clouds overtook the sky and the kingdom became filled with sadness and despair. Everyone was miserable but they were all controlled to not try to fix it. Only a few were able to withstand this power and they are like Fakir and Altor," Rue explained.

"Really? So, Fakir actually knows about how everyone is feeling and he is different than them? I knew he was way more caring than he showed," Duck said with a smile. However, her smile soon faded as she asked another question. "What happened to the rulers in the castle and stuff?"

"You mean the royal family?" Rue asked.

"U-huh."

"Well, um…they were all killed by the Raven's men. The King and Queen had a single child, a princess, but…she didn't survive the attack either. She wasn't spared the evil of the Raven and she was only six years old. That poor girl," Rue's face became laden with the horrible memories of the past. Not only was it the past the kingdom remembered but she remembered it far better because…she was there. She witnessed it all happening and even to this day she was tormented by the memories. "I'm sorry Duck. It's just so sad to think of the young Princess getting no mercy for something she didn't do."

"It's okay Rue," Duck comforted. "You'll be okay. I'd like to hear more though. This is so sad but I want to know what happened. Everyone else seems to know about it but me. Why?"

"You were far too young to remember when it happened," Rue said and stroked the younger girl's feathers from her eyes. "But perhaps you should know about it. I can't blame you for being curious. So, as you can imagine the kingdom wasn't that easy to take over and that was because of the royal knights. These knights were the very thing that made this kingdom so great. They kept everyone safe from any danger and they were incredibly loyal. They were strong and never backed down from a fight. However, the only way someone could become a knight was to pass several tests or be born in the family of a knight. They were strict with who was allowed into the group because of the magical armor they wore. If that armor ever got into the wrong hands then that person would be nearly invulnerable to anything."

"What happened to them?" Duck asked.

"The Raven found a way around their armor and killed them all. It was a once in a lifetime chance he had and he took it, killing all the knights so the kingdom had no hope of fighting back," Rue said as she finished wrapping Duck's arm. She stood up and sighed with a small smile. "That's the only way he was ever able to take over the kingdom. With such powerful men out of the way it was just as easy as walking into the gate."

"I wish it had never happened. This world doesn't seem to be so enchanting when it has a story like that behind it," Duck said, her head hanging.

"But you can't let this unhappiness get to you. If you let the despair in then the Raven has won. You don't want him to do that do you?" Rue asked and tried to get Duck to look at her. "Come on, give me a smile. I know it's in there somewhere. Do I have to find it by bringing out the tickle monster?"

Rue started to wiggle her fingers and Duck jumped up with a smile.

"No! Not the tickle monster. He tickles," Duck said but Rue got her. Duck was soon lying on the ground laughing so hard that tears were forming in her eyes. "Stop it! Come on Rue, that's not fair!"

"Hey, Rue I'm…what the?" Fakir walked into the room only to see the tickle attack unfold before him. "Okay, I don't think I want to know what's going on."

"It's the tickle monster. He got me again," Duck giggled as Rue sat back.

"We were just playing. It's something I used to do with her. I wasn't hurting her if that's what you were worried about," Rue said and gave him a knowing grin.

"Shut up. Mytho and the others wanted to know if they could go out into the town again for something," he said as he crossed his arms.

"What for?" Rue asked.

"They said they were bored. I don't know, they'll probably burn the next two blocks down if they do something," Fakir said.

"We just got back. Why do they want to go back out again?" Duck asked.

"Search me. It's mostly Pique and Lillie I'm worried about. They're so freaking antsy," he said and turned to leave. "I'd really hate to have them in this shop too long. They might bring the Raven down on us with a mistake with magic."

"That's a good point. Okay, we should go out again," Rue said and took Duck's hand. "Come on, why don't you put on your new dress? Try it out and stuff."

"Okay," Duck said and hopped to her feet. "You're coming right, Fakir?"

"No."

"Awe, why not?" Duck whined.

"I've got stuff I need to do here. You guys can go on ahead," he said and walked to the tunnel entrance.

He went back to the shop as Duck changed into her new dress and got back to work on the doll that was lying on the table in the middle of the room. Altor had been under one of the other work tables looking for something when Fakir walked in.

"Hey, Fakir, you haven't seen that little box of screws have you? I think I left it on the table but it's gone," he said from the ground.

"How long ago did you use it last?" Fakir asked as he sat on the wooden stool in front of the doll.

"Last week I think."

"You probably already used it then," Fakir stated.

"Oh, crud. I needed those," Altor said and crawled out from under the table. "I guess I'll just have to buy some more."

"The others are going back into town, you could ask Rue or Mytho to get you some."

"Oh, they're going back into town? Are you going with them?" Altor asked.

"Nope."

"Well, you know what kind of screws I'm looking for. Could you go get them for me? You should go into town with the others. Who knows, maybe they'll need you for something," Altor smirked.

"Like what?"

"An opinion?"

"Ugh, just give me the damn money. It's obvious you want me out of the shop for some reason so I'll just leave," Fakir said as he reached his hand out for the money.

"I personally don't want you out of the shop but I think that it'll be good for you if you spend time with your friends," Altor said as he reached into his pocket for money. "You need to have some good friends, it may be the only way you'll survive in the future."

"Whatever," Fakir took the money and headed up the stairs to the main shop.

He was putting the money in his pocket as he was walking and he didn't look up until he nearly ran into Duck who was wearing a pretty pink silk dress that reached her ankles and was twirling around in it.

"Oh," she said as Fakir ran into her.

She took a step back and smiled at his reaction. He was startled in two ways; 1. He didn't see Duck in front of him and 2. She looked very different in her new dress. The lines in the pink fabric were just enough to bring out the small figure in the bird-girl and it caught him off guard.

"So…do you like it?" she asked as she twirled again.

He blinked a few times before answering and said, "Yeah, sure. It's nice."

"So, what are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming along?" Pique asked.

"Maybe he's going to sneak off and start a riot somewhere and become an outlaw that has to hide from the cops and do everything behind a mask because if the cops found out who he was then they'd…" Lillie said but her mouth was covered by Pique.

"Sorry about that, she had way too much coffee this morning. Who knows where her mind goes when she starts talking when she has too much to drink," Pique said with a silly grin.

"You sure she isn't high?" Fakir mumbled. "I'm going to go with you guys because I'm running an errand for Altor. He needs some screws so I'm going to stop by the hardware store. You guys can go…look at flowers or whatever."

"Ooh! Flowers!" Lillie squealed under Pique's hand.

Fakir and Rue both rolled their eyes. Lillie was definitely a bit more of a flibbertigibbet than usual and it was very possible it was because she was in the city. So many things to see and do and ruin and break and explode. Jeez, how was Lillie ever allowed to even exist with her strange ideas of fun?

"Hey, Fakir, can I go with you?" Duck asked shyly.

He looked at her a bit taken aback by the request but he just shrugged.

"I guess if you want to. It'll just be a few blocks away and you won't see that much of the city but if you want to go with me on an errand then go knock yourself out," he said not looking at her.

She took a step back. Knock herself out? Why would she do that? Wouldn't that hurt? Was that what you do when you go on an errand? Her fear must have shown on her face because when Fakir turned around he saw it and rolled his eyes again.

"I didn't mean to actually knock yourself out. I meant if you want to go with me then it's up to you. Do whatever, have fun, just try not to get in my way," he said and left.

"Okay," she said with a sigh and followed.

They started to walk down the street and Duck waved to the others who were heading in the other direction, happily walking next to Fakir. He looked at her with a neutral expression and thought, eh, it couldn't be that bad with just Duck. She was at least somewhat saner than the others and she always tried her best to do things right but what do you expect from someone who is half duck?

Duck was very content just to be walking with someone she trusted like Fakir. In a place that was as dangerous as he had said was very scary but when she was with Fakir she felt safer. Maybe it was the friendship that was sort of there but sort of not or maybe it was how sure he was of himself in the city or maybe…it was the sword he carried in his belt. It could be any of those reasons why Duck felt safe but that fact still remained, she felt very safe.

She was looking around in awe at how the buildings' sizes, shapes, colors and quality changed from street to street. They soon got out of the housing streets and more into the area with stores and it became extremely crowded. Duck almost got lost twice and both times it ended with Fakir dragging her until there was enough space for her to walk by herself.

"Sorry Fakir. I'm not used to so many people," she said, twiddling her fingers.

"This is nothing compared to when they have sales…if they have sales anymore," Fakir said. "Come on, the store is just down the street a ways. We can get in, get on with it, get over with it, and get out. Get it?"

"Got it."

"Good. Let's go," he said and they started to make their way to the store.

They finally pushed their way through the crowds and into the store. It was much larger on the inside than Duck had expected and she looked around at all the building things. Long rectangular pieces of wood, big, thin metal sheets, and so many other doohickeys that lined the walls and leaned against the shelves.

"Hello, can I help you?" the man behind the counter asked.

He was sort of old with a very forgetful looking face. He looked like he had died about three years before and was just waiting for someone to notice.

"Yes, I'm looking for a box of two-inch screws for eighth-of-an-inch sheet of copper," Fakir said.

"Okay. Screws. I got these things here. They were just delivered yesterday," he said and pulled out a box of two-inch screws.

"Hey Fakir," Duck whispered.

"Yeah, what?"

"I thought you said everyone in this town was supposed to be in the dumps and not doing well," she whispered again.

"They are."

"Then how is he still in business?" Duck asked.

"Just wait until you hear the price," Fakir whispered back.

"Are these what you are looking for young man?" the man asked, holding out the box of screws.

"Yeah, how much?" Fakir asked.

"Thirty."

"Seriously?" Fakir asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid that the price of everything has gone up. I don't make the rules, I just abide by them," the man said.

"What did I tell you?" Fakir asked Duck as he dug into his pocket for the money.

She couldn't help but giggle a little. She looked around some more and her attention was caught by a small box. It was rather plain at first glimpse but as she got closer it seemed to become more colorful. Shapes began to appear on it and the colors started to swirl. She was hypnotized by the box and once the man finished counting the money he saw what Duck was looking at.

"Does the nice young lady like this box?" he asked as he took hold of it.

"It's so pretty," she said, her voice sounding as if in a trance.

Fakir looked over at the box and only saw a small wooden thing with two thick rungs over the lid.

"That's pretty? You've got to be seeing things," he said and walked over to the bird girl. "Come on, we got what we came for, let's head back."

"Not yet," she said and started to reach her hand out.

"What are you doing? It's just a box," he said as he took her other arm. "We don't need one."

As her hand got closer a strange light started to form around the box. It was calling to Duck. It needed her help. It was trapped and only she could free it. Fakir didn't know what to think of the light. Was it dangerous? Was it a good sort of light? Was something bad going to happen to Duck if she got any closer? He didn't want to find out.

He tried to pull her away but instead an invisible force ripped his hands away from her and made him stumble backwards. He watched as her hand reached the box and a blinding light filled the entire store. He looked as hard as he could at where Duck was standing and saw her touching the box. Wait, she looked different. Her hair was…hair. She looked taller and more mature and she seemed to be the one glowing now. Soon the light began to fade and Duck was back to normal and there was a plain box in the hand of the store owner.

"Wha…?" Fakir didn't know what to say.

He kept his eyes on Duck and noticed she began to sway. Was she fainting? Who cares, he caught her before she hit the floor and slowly lowered her to the ground.

"Duck? Duck are you okay?" he asked quickly. "What just happened? Are you hurt?"

"Lill…Lillie's ribs," she whispered.

"What?"

"Lillie's ribs were a part of the box and now…she has them back," she said and passed out.


	14. Duck's Talent

Chapter 14

DUCK'S TALENT

"Duck? Duck, wake up," Fakir said as he held her gently.

He was worried that whatever had happened to her was because of that box. He didn't understand what Duck meant about Lillie's ribs. All he knew was that Duck was in his arms out cold.

"Oh, dear me. What just happened?" the store owner asked as he walked around the counter to the two young people. "Is she all right?"

"She had better be. This is going to tear Rue in half if anything happened to her," Fakir said as he looked down at Duck.

Almost as if just mentioning her name, Rue and the others rushed into the store. Rue saw Duck first and raced over to her.

"Oh my god. Duck. What happened?" she asked.

"She touched that box," Fakir said and pointed to the object in the owner's hand. "There was this weird light and for some reason it didn't let me get near her."

"She just…touched a box? She just touched a box and it causes her to pass out? That's lame," Pique said.

"Maybe she's tired," Mytho said from the back of the group.

"Nobody asked for your opinion," Pique said and stuck her tongue out.

"Did she say anything?" Rue asked.

"After the light faded she said that Lillie's ribs were returned but…I didn't see any ribs," Fakir said.

"See? I told you I felt something. I knew I grew two more inches," Lillie said and pushed Pique.

"So? That doesn't mean anything. You could have just decided not to have bad posture," Pique said.

"I think Lillie might be right for once," Rue said. She held her hand out to the owner and asked, "May I please see the box?"

"Oh, sure miss."

"What do you want to look at? It's just a box," Fakir said. He didn't realize it but he was still cradling Duck in his arms and to onlookers it would seem more than just a friendship between them.

"Maybe there will be an answer somewhere on this box," Rue said and began to spin it in her hands. "Can you tell me what it looked like before Duck touched it?"

"It looked just like that," he said then looked closer. "Wait, it had two rungs on the lid. Where did they go?"

"If my hunch is correct, then the box not only held Lillie's ribs but they were also a part of it," Rue said.

"Ha! I got my ribs back, I got my ribs back, la la la la la la," Lillie said happily and began dancing around Pique.

"Oh, shut up. That's nothing, wait until I get my elegance stuff back," Pique said with her arms crossed.

"If we're able to find it," Fakir said bluntly.

"That is very true. A question that is still bugging me is…how did she know which box to touch? There are several other boxes in this store, why did she want to touch this box so badly?" Rue asked.

"She said it was pretty. I think it's really plain but she was very persistent that it was pretty," Fakir said.

"That might be it."

"What might be it?" Pique asked.

"To us, we see something unimportant but because of Drosselmeyer's magic I suppose Duck saw something different. Perhaps she…has magic too," Rue said and brushed a feather from Duck's face. "If only she had it earlier, maybe she would have had something to look forward to at the circus."

"Yeah, and maybe she could have used it to fly. Get real Rue, if Duck could have used magic in the circus don't you think that Drosselmeyer would have used her to his advantage even more?" Fakir asked.

"Oh, I didn't…"

"He'd have had two performers with magic," Pique said. "That would have been interesting."

"Yeah okay, let's stop with the being down cast. Who wants ice cream?" Lillie asked happily.

"Ugh, shut up Lillie," Pique groaned.

"But she's right. A crowd's forming outside, we should go," Rue said as she stood up. "Fakir, can you pick her up?"

"Guess I'll have to," he said and gently wrapped his arms under the young girl's body. "Being half bird makes her easy to carry."

They made their way through the crowd of onlookers that conjugated in front of the store and headed back to Altor's invention shop. Fakir was carefully holding Duck so her head rested against his shoulder and he couldn't stop feeling that perhaps if he hadn't brought her along this wouldn't have happened. Oh, there he goes again, blaming himself for the things happening to others when it wasn't his fault. Duck and Altor were so right when they said he beats himself up over nothing. He literally did. He didn't make her come, he didn't make her touch the box so why did he think he did? He just had one messed up brain sometimes.

Something else was bugging him: why were Lillie's ribs apart of the box? Why weren't they just ribs laying somewhere? He decided to ask Rue when they got back.

Well, they finally got back and Fakir placed Duck carefully on the bed. He watched as Rue pulled the blanket up to her chin and put a warm, damp cloth on Duck's head.

As she patted her face with another cloth Fakir asked, "Why were Lillie's ribs a box?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why weren't they just…there as ribs? Why were they a part of a box?"

"That's a good question," Rue said and thought for a second. "I guess Drosselmeyer had to turn the unobtainable objects into something he could hold. If you think about it, he probably turned them into things that represent what was taken."

"So what did the box represent?"

"It could have represented her chest and the two ribs were the rungs keeping it safe and secure," Rue said and Fakir nodded in agreement.

"That could be it but what about the others?"

"I have no idea. I'm sure that when Duck's sees it she'll know," Rue said. She got up and walked to the door. "We'll just have to be patient. Come on, we should leave her alone. She'll be fine."

"Actually, I'd rather stay here and just make sure," he said as he looked at the girl on the bed. "Besides, I need some place quiet to work on a design. I'm having some trouble getting the pieces to work in Uzura's head."

"Well, okay, just don't bother her and if she wakes up you can tell one of us," Rue said and left.

He stood there silently for a few more minutes, still starring at the bird-girl. He was sort of thinking and sort of in his own world. She looked so tranquil and peaceful that he actually felt jealous of her. Him being peaceful was like saying a pig doesn't like rolling in mud, it just wasn't going to happen.

He finally walked over to the small desk that sat at the opposite wall of the bed and began to scribble out shapes of gears and pieces, trying to figure out what wasn't working with what.

He was working on it for so long that he actually fell asleep. It was about five when he fell asleep and it was several hours later before he woke up.

Of course he didn't wake up on his own, someone woke him up and guess who that was. If you guessed Duck then congrats for amazing guessing skills.

She had finally started to wake up when she realized that she was back in her room at Altor's shop and she felt that perhaps she missed something. How did she get there? Why didn't she remember coming back? And why was Fakir in her room? She slowly got out of her bed and it took her a few seconds to get her balance back before she could walk over to Fakir.

She got to him thinking he was awake and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Fakir," she said softly, her voice still weak from being tired.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked back to see Duck. He blinked several times and shook his head to wake himself up.

"You're finally awake," he said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked sincerely.

"You've been asleep since the incident at the hardware store," he said and looked at her eyes. Something was different about them. He couldn't put his finger on it but he knew that there was definitely a change in her eyes. "Do…you remember what happened?"

"I touched a box…and um, I fell asleep?" she asked with a shy grin. "Okay, I don't really remember but I know a box was involved."

"Yeah, you touched a box and gave Lillie her missing ribs back," Fakir said as he turned back to his sketches. "Don't ask how that works exactly but it did."

"Lillie got her ribs back?" Duck asked happily. "That's great!"

"How did you know which box to touch?"

"I don't know. At first the box looked normal and all but then it got really pretty and there were so many colors and designs that appeared and it just seemed to call to me," Duck said as she remembered the box. "I think that the box wanted me to see it."

"Okay," Fakir said and grabbed the sketches. "Damn it!"

"What's wrong?"

"I can't figure out what's wrong with Uzura. Altor and I have been working on her for hours and no matter what we do we can't seem to get the right gears to work the right way," he said and put his head in his hands as if to say 'I give up'.

"Can I see?" Duck asked.

"Why? You don't know anything about mechanical things," he said and sighed. "You know what? Sure, go ahead and look at them but don't expect the answer to jump out at you."

"Okay," she said and looked at the drawing. She turned it this way and that and finally said, "Maybe you should just get rid of these little gears and put in a big one. It would probably give you more room and stuff and it would make it all so much simpler."

Fakir looked up in amazement. She didn't really just figure out how to fix the problem did she? No way. He had been mulling over it for hours and after just a few minutes of studying it she found the answer? Huh, maybe the answers did just jump out at her.

"Let me see that," he said and reached for the paper. He brought it down onto the desk and changed the small gears with the larger one. "Oh wow! How could I not figure that out?"

He leaned back and hit his forehead with his hand. Face-palm!

"I'm so stupid!" he said, again beating himself up.

"No you aren't. It's just that sometimes you need to think simply instead of complicatedly," Duck said and grinned again at Fakir's face.

He looked at her with wonder and amazement. How the hell did she keep being so smart and yet so dumb at the same time? How does that even work?

He picked up the sketch and began to leave when Duck, as she began to follow, tripped.

"Whoah!" she said as she fell and he just barely caught her before she hit the ground.

She was leaning against his chest and his hands held her arms firmly but not to the point he hurt her. She looked up at him and noticed how his dark green eyes said something completely different than his face. She didn't understand why they did that but she was beginning to really like his eyes and even if he got mad at her a lot she still could look at his eyes and see the kindness he was concealing.

"How do you do that? There was nothing to even trip over?" he asked as he helped her to a proper standing position. "You're sometimes more clumsy than Pique."

"Sorry," she said and leaned against him some more.

He looked down at her with shock. What was she doing? She just tripped into his arms and now she looked like she was going to fall asleep with her head against his chest.

"What…what are you doing?" he asked, his heart starting to speed up a bit.

If she was trying to be a little more than friendly with him then he was so going to freak. He didn't know how to deal with love-struck girls but then again, Duck didn't seem like she would even know how to recognize the concept of being love-struck. That made it even worse.

"I really want to help you Fakir," she said softly. "I want you to be happy again."

Fakir's eye's opened even wider. She didn't know about what was taken from him…did she? The way she said it she didn't sound like the normal Duck he was used to, she sounded far more mature and almost as if she wasn't herself.

"Uh, well, that's really…nice and, uh…thoughtful but you really don't need to…" he tried to push her away but the look on her face made him stop.

She had the look that Rue always got when she gets her flash forwards. She had a faraway look in her eyes and it sounded like someone was talking through her.

"Fakir, I can help, just let me. I know what you need and I'm willing to help you get it back. Your heart speaks for you and you cannot hide how you feel from me," she said.

Oh, crap! He didn't want anyone to know what he felt…especially Duck but if she can hear it from his heart then…He's screwed. He won't ever be able to keep his emotions to himself with her around anymore. Great. Just great.

"Duck, we need to get back to the others," he said and finally pushed her away.

The second her head left his chest her face went back to normal. She tilted her head in confusion because of the flustered looked she saw on Fakir's face and took a step back.

"Fakir, are you okay? You look a bit scared," Duck said.

He tried to tell her something like 'don't ever touch me again' or 'you need to stop tripping' or 'please don't come that close to me ever again' but he couldn't actually say any of those things. Duck stood there patiently watching him try to say something but not able to get the words out.

He finally just gave up and sighed, "Let's just go. You need to go talk to Rue and I need to work on Uzura."

"Okay," she said happily and followed him out of the room.


	15. A Sweet Bed TIme Story

Chapter 15

A SWEET BED TIME STORY

Fakir had taken his sketches to Altor to see if they would work while Duck went to talk to Rue and the others and even though Fakir tried to stop thinking about it, he couldn't get the words that Duck had said out of his mind.

"_I want you to be happy again…I can help, just let me…your heart speaks for you…you can't hide your feelings from me…"_

Her words echoed in his head as he worked and he was far more silent than usual. Is it possible to have a silence that makes a lot of noise? Well, that was exactly what was happening with Fakir. He was silent but Altor could hear it. It was sort of one of those awkward silences you get when everyone in a room stops talking at the same time, only Fakir's silence was speaking his thoughts.

Altor watched him carefully, hoping to get a glimpse of why Fakir was so quiet but even the tiny expressions that were seen of Fakir's face weren't enough to tip him off.

"Okay, what happened? You are way too quiet and this quiet is freaking me out," Altor said, finally tired of the silence. "Did you have some sort of dream that's actually making you think?"

"I always think," Fakir stated. _Man, I wish it was a dream but…was that really Duck? I'm so confused. How am I supposed to take what she said?_

"Yeah right. If you can tell me what was taken from you then you can tell me what's bothering you now," Altor said. He walked over and took the screwdriver from Fakir's hand, forcing his brother to pay attention to him. "Look, something's troubling you that doesn't have anything to do with the Raven and it's as plain as the glasses on my face. What the hell is bugging you now?"

"Nothing," Fakir said and reached for the screwdriver. "Come on, give it back. I'm just about done with this."

"Only if you tell me what's bugging you," Altor said as he pulled the tool too far for Fakir to reach.

"Nothing's bugging me. Just give me the screwdriver," Fakir said as he stood up.

"Are you really going to try to fool me with your nothing's wrong act? I grew up with you, I know you are never alright so spill, what's up?"

"Why do you care? You've never had any interest about how I felt before so why all of a sudden you want to know everything?" Fakir asked.

"Would you believe because I really care for my brother?" Altor asked smugly.

"No, I wouldn't believe that Altor."

"I'm interested in your welfare."

"Altor, that's a load of bull."

"Fine, I'm trying to figure out if you're into that Duck chick," Altor said and grinned at how red Fakir's face got.

"ALTOR!?" he cried, pissed. His face was red because he was pissed and embarrassed. Fakir grabbed the screwdriver out of his brother's hand roughly and continued to threaten him with it. "You're just playing match-maker with me? Some caring brother you are. I don't care if you write a love letter to her and put my name on it, I'm not into Duck. She's a child and she has no idea about things like…that."

"She's innocent. Exactly the kind of girl to go after," Altor said with a sinister grin.

"You pervert," Fakir said, disgusted. "How could you even think about things like that?"

"Because you won't. I'm just trying to make sure that once this whole problem with the Raven is over you have someone you can spend the rest of your life with. I want to make sure you've got someone even when I'm not around," Altor said. "I'm just looking out for my brother."

"Well, you can stop because I don't need you to look after me," Fakir said and turned back to working on Uzura.

"You'll change your mind eventually," Altor said and went over to another table. "I sure hope it's soon."

Fakir rolled his eyes and went back to work and didn't stop until it was eleven. Altor left the room first and headed to his room while Fakir finished putting all the tools back into their respected places. He then headed to his room and as he passed Duck's room he heard her singing.

"I'm alone in the universe. So alone in the universe. My planets and stars are glowing. No one notices anything, not one person is listening. They don't have any way of knowing that I have wings, yes I can fly around the moon and far beyond…the…sky."

She stopped and stared out her window. Fakir wondered why she would sing such a sad sounding song but he didn't really feel like getting into a conversation. He was just about to walk away when he heard her say something.

"I'm not alone, Fakir's alone. He's the one that needs friends…not me. If only I could help him," she said as she looked out the window. "I want to help so bad but…I just don't know how."

She let her head fall onto her folded arms and if Fakir didn't know any better he would have thought she was crying. Why did she care so much about him? He never really did anything to deserve such feelings and he was just flabbergasted by what she said. Why did she want to help him so badly? All he could think of was 'why'? Why did she want him to be happy? Why did she feel it was her responsibility to help him in any way? Why did she like being around him?

He could have caused his brain to over load with all those questions running through his head but he was soon interrupted by Rue who had quietly walked up behind him.

"Only the knight can defeat the Raven but one knight will not be enough. Help will come from an unexpected source," she said, her voice sounding far away again.

Fakir just looked at her. He was still getting used to her flash forwards but this time he didn't feel like getting into any sort of discussion about the future. He was too tired.

"Oh, Fakir, I didn't see you there," Rue said when she finally snapped out of her trance. "I didn't know you were going to see Duck too."

"I wasn't. I'm going to bed," he said and walked away without giving the fortune teller another look.

"Oh, okay. Good night," she said and watched as he opened his door and disappeared into his room. "Huh, wonder what's got him."

"Hi Rue," Duck said happily. She turned around on the window seat and watched Rue walk in. "Who were you talking to?"

"Fakir. He seemed to be in one of his moods again," Rue said and ruffled Duck's feathers. "You shouldn't worry about it."

"Okay. So, what are we going to do tomorrow?" Duck asked.

"Well, I ran into Altor and he said that he and Fakir will probably go to the library to look for some info on the Raven," Rue said as she sat next to Duck. "Other than that, I have no idea. We'll just have to come up with some way to occupy ourselves."

"Ooh, how about hide and seek? Or peek-a-boo, that would be fun," Duck said happily.

"I think that you need to get some sleep before you become as wacky as Pique and Lillie," Rue said. "Go on, get into bed."

"Okay, but can you tell me a story?" Duck asked as she hopped onto the small bed. It was far more comfy than the one at the circus and Duck was very grateful. "What about the one about the ugly duckling. I've always liked that one."

"Well, that's probably because you're a duck," Rue grinned. She walked over to Duck's bed and sat down on the side, facing the younger girl. "Now, once upon a time there was young duckling. She was born on a lake with several other ducks but this little duck was different, very different. She had gray feathers and a black bill instead of the fluffy yellow feathers of her brothers and sisters. She was always teased and picked on and no one ever wanted to play with her because she was so weird looking."

"Those other ducks aren't very nice, are they Rue?" Duck asked sweetly.

"No, they weren't. Now one day, the ugly duckling got fed up and ran away. She left her pretty little lake and she didn't stop until she was completely exhausted. She was found by two children who took her in for the winter. She was happy for that short winter and once spring came she knew she could no longer stay with the nice children so she left again. She wandered the fields and ponds of the land and when summer came around again she found a nice big lake to rest. She looked out over the water and noticed the big beautiful white swans swimming gracefully over the water and just wished that she wasn't so ugly. 'Come play!' one called. 'Who? Me?' she asked as she looked at the lovey swan who had called her. 'Yes. Come play with me' the swan said. The ugly duckling looked down ashamed and said 'but I'm too ugly. You don't want to play with me.' 'Ugly? You aren't ugly. You're…"

"A swan! Like me," Duck finished happily.

"The duckling looked at her reflection in the lake and saw the most beautiful swan looking back at her. She was never truly a duck, she was always a swan and she only needed time to figure it out," Rue said and hugged Duck. "Always remember that Duck. You may look like a little duck but on the inside you're a beautiful swan. Good night."

"Good night Rue," Duck said and watched her friend leave the room.

She snuggled under her blankets and soon she fell asleep, ducks and swans filling her thoughts as she drifted into unconsciousness.


	16. Books, Kidnapping and An Apology

Chapter 16

BOOKS, KIDNAPPING AND AN APOLOGY

"Sire," a soldier dressed in all black bowed before the throne of the evil dictator. "We have reached the border between Gold Crown and the mountains just as you ordered. We are ready to…"

"Something's not right," the king whispered.

"I'm sorry?" the soldier asked.

"Something is happening that shouldn't be. Someone has magic that has not been around for years." The king glared down at the soldier. "Find that magic. It must be destroyed!"

"If I may, sire, but how do we track magic?" the soldier asked as he groveled on his knees. "We are just simple soldiers, we don't know how…"

"Just do it! Find a way to track it and destroy it," the king pounded on his armrests.

"Yes, your majesty," the soldier bowed and left the throne room.

"This magic is very familiar," the king continued to think out loud. "If I'm not mistaken, it's the magic of my enemy. But how? They were all destroyed."

"If I may explain, your highness," a voice chuckled from the shadows.

"Who's there!? Show yourself!"

"Don't worry, sire, I only want to help," the voice chuckled once more. The figure stepped out of the shadows and bowed deeply. "I am Herr Drosselmeyer and I believe we are after the same thing."

The king grinned at Drosselmeyer and beckoned him forward with an evil, clawed finger.

"Tell me, what do you know about this magic?"

"Altor! Will you hurry up! We don't have all day!" Fakir banged on his brother's door.

He had a sack with papers and some books slung over his shoulder and a very determined mission on his brain but his stupid brother was taking too long getting up.

"I'm coming!" Altor shouted through the door then finally opened it. "Geez, wake up the entire neighborhood will ya? Can't you just slow down once in your life?"

"If we can get the information we need then we can stop the Raven before he reaches final countdown. Now let's get going," Fakir dragged his brother to the front shop by the arm and only stopped when Duck popped up in front of him.

"Hey Fakir. Just wanted to say see you later so…um, see you later," she said and waved awkwardly.

Fakir's eyebrow went up and he asked, "Do you want something?"

"Uh, no…Whatever gave you that idea?" she grinned sheepishly.

Fakir looked at her for a second then sighed, "No, you can't come with us."

"Dang it, how'd you figure it out?"

"I was a kid once and I used to pull stunts…similar to that when I wanted something," Fakir explained.

"Him? A kid? You're kidding, right?" Altor asked mostly to Duck, making her giggle.

"Shut up Altor. Let's get going before something like the world ending happens," Fakir said and dragged Altor out the door.

"Awe, bye Fakir. Bye Altor," Duck called, a bit disappointed.

Altor saw her close the door and finally struggled out of Fakir's grip.

"What is up with you? We do have like five months left…right, so what's the hurry?" he asked as he straightened out his shirt.

"I'd like to get this over with before a minute before this world implodes thank you. I'm not a procrastinator and I want to end this stupid head ache," Fakir said without looking at his brother.

"Uh-huh. Okay," Altor said and shrugged.

The rest of the walk was silent between the two and they only started talking after they got to the library. They stopped and looked at the old, rusty building that seemed to be leaning a bit. It was one of the many buildings that were falling under disrepair and it was a miracle it was still standing.

"Good lord that thing gets even worse every time I come here," Altor said as he slid his glasses back up his face. "Not even my shop looks that bad."

"An argument could be made about that," Fakir said and walked up the chipped steps to the large front door. "Get moving. We didn't come here to sight-see."

"Right," Altor quickly made his way up the stairs after Fakir while still staring at the wreck that was the public library.

Public? Ha! That's a laugh. Everything in the city was owned by the Raven and the only thing free was the ability to see the buildings. Everyone was led to believe that they were free but the Raven's power made it so they didn't see how truly unfree they were. That's called communism people or just a totalitarian dictatorship, which ever you prefer but it's pretty much the same thing.

They made their way to the front desk where an old wary woman sat looking out blankly over the counter. Fakir barely looked at her and just headed to an aisle, immediately skimming the books to read their covers.

"So what are we looking for again?" Altor whispered as he followed Fakir.

"Anything about the Raven."

"Okay. I'll go over to the biography section," Altor said and left.

Fakir watched him slightly out of the corner of his eye and sighed softly. Altor was sometimes more of a moron than…than Lillie and that's saying something. At least he had the brain power to come up with inventions, what did she have? The ability to bend herself in half and roll into a ball. Yeah, that's helpful.

For several hours Fakir pulled out books, skimmed the pages and put them back. He couldn't seem to find anything about the Raven. Nothing in the history section, non-fiction or even the fiction section. The only things that were ever mentioned of him was his 'fabulous power' and 'amazing awesomeness' but nothing on how to defeat him.

Fakir slammed the most recent book he had and grumbled, "Damn."

"Excuse me, but is there anything I can help you with?" a tired voice asked from the end of the aisle.

Fakir turned to see the old librarian lady from the front desk hunched over a book return cart. She stared at him with half dead eyes and an even blander expression than Mytho. Her clothes were nearly rags and it looked like she gave up on making her hair look nice years ago.

Fakir cleared his thought and said, "Yes. I was wondering if you had any more information on the Raven."

"Nothing that isn't already in these books I'm afraid," she said then started off.

"Damn," Fakir muttered again.

"Why?" she asked out of curiosity, stopping once more.

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to know about the Raven?"

Fakir stopped. Was this a trick? Should he tell her the real reason? What if she was a spy and she was going to turn him in? He couldn't risk it.

"I'm doing a report on…great leaders for…history," he fibbed. "The only problem is that there doesn't seem to be any real…facts about him or his past. You wouldn't possibly have any books with more history about him would you?"

She studied him for a few minutes and he wasn't sure why. He was getting a bit nervous. What if she didn't fall for it? He was seventeen so the school bit would work perfectly…right? Maybe she was having a hard time remembering where the books were or if she had any. It's a possibility. Maybe she had accidentally fallen asleep…with her eyes open. Yeah, like that's it.

"Follow me, young man. I think I know what you're looking for," she said and started pushing her cart down the aisle.

Fakir followed in silence as she led him to the very back of the library. She stopped in front of the back wall and stared for a few seconds. She pointed at the shelf with a wary finger and whispered harshly.

"Pull the book that's out of place and you will find what you are looking for."

He stepped forward with confusion on his face and began studying the books. As he did so he heard the squeaky wheels of the cart turn and leave and he looked back just in time to see the woman's dress vanish behind an aisle.

He shrugged at the mysterious woman and went back to looking for this book. He searched for one that looked either newer or older but they all had the same ware and tear to them. Maybe it was the color. No, they were all differently colored. He stepped back and thought silently. Pull the book that's out of place? None of them seemed out of place so what did she mean. He continued to think and soon he heard Altor calling his name.

"I'm over here," Fakir said, still thinking.

"Well, thanks for telling me you were going to disappear. I was beginning to freak out that you got lost or something," Altor laughed as he walked up to his brother. "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for the book that's out of place," he said absently. His eyes scanned all the books, looking for any differences but still he couldn't see anything different amongst them. He soon sighed and shook his head. "This is pointless. Why did I ever listen to that lady?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The lady at the front desk told me to pull the book that was out of place because I asked her if there were any books about the Raven but none of them look…out of place," Fakir said and rubbed his temples. "I'm so stupid."

"Well, did you look at sizes yet?"

"Yes."

"Color?"

"Did that."

"How about titles?"

Fakir looked up and said, "No. I haven't done that yet."

"Let's get looking," Altor said and they skimmed the titles.

It wasn't long before Fakir found a pattern in the titles.

"I think I figured out the similarities," he said.

"What is it?"

"All these titles seem to have something to do with magic. See? This one's about black magic, this one's about transforming magic, this is teleporting and this is reversal magic. We just need to find one that isn't about magic."

Altor just stared at Fakir, dumbfounded. Fakir seemed to notice and he rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"Do you ever stop thinking?"

"Not that I know of, of course if I did stop thinking then I wouldn't remember not thinking," Fakir said and poked at a book. "Here. This has got to be it. It's about royalty but it doesn't say anything about magic."

"Pull it. Let's see what happens," Altor said with an expecting grin.

Fakir complied. He pulled the book and almost instantly the shelf opened up to expose a darkened room. They stared into the room with surprised and looked at each other. Well, that was unexpected (yeah right).

Fakir was the first to get his head back on his shoulders and he walked into the room. He felt along the wall and found an old light switch. He flicked it and the room was illuminated by a single bulb that dangled from the middle of the ceiling. He looked around and saw that it was an entire room filled with books and papers. He picked up one and found that it was all about the Raven and his past conquests. He picked up another and it was about his magic. All the books were about the Raven and his powers or strength or spells he's used but what Fakir was looking for was how to stop him.

He looked around until he found a book that was just loose pages sewn together with a black thread. He picked it up and began to skim through it. It was full of anti-spells and weapons that could be used against him and…he was just about to get to how to kill him and wouldn't you believe it, the pages were ripped out. As you can imagine, Fakir was pissed.

He snapped the book closed and began to storm out of the hidden room just as Altor found an interesting book. He looked at Fakir then the book then Fakir and finally put the book down, following his brother just about as annoyed as Fakir was.

Fakir stormed up to the librarian at her desk and slammed the book down in front of her.

"Where's the rest of it!?" he growled.

She just stared at him, her head tilted slightly to the side.

"I asked you, where's the rest of it?" he asked again.

"I don't understand," she said.

"What's up with you leaving me like that?" Altor asked as he came up behind his brother. "I was just about…"

"Shut up," Fakir cut him off, not even turning to look at him. "I'm asking you one more time. Where are the last pages of this book? You led me to the room, you can tell me where it is."

"The last person to read it might know," she said.

"Okay, who was the last person to read it?" Fakir asked.

"Mr. Charon but that was nine years ago," she said.

"You can't be serious! The last person to read it was here nine years ago!?" Fakir was boiling over with anger. He was just about an inch away from smacking someone when Altor stepped forward.

"Could you tell us where this Charon guy is now?"

"He said something about moving to the mountains," she said, still staring off.

"Wait a second, how can you remember that? It was nine years ago, how can you remember what he said?" Fakir asked. "You've had several other readers come through here haven't you?"

"Mr. Charon was the last to come in here till you boys," she said and pulled out a piece of parchment. "He left me with this saying to give it to the first young man who walks in."

"What is it?" Altor asked as Fakir took it.

"I don't know."

Fakir looked at the lady and opened the parchment. It was a map of the kingdom and it had two trails marked off, one was red and the other was blue. The blue seemed to head off to the mountains while the red led straight to the heart of the castle. Fakir looked up at the woman in surprise and then to Altor. What did it mean? Was he supposed to go somewhere? Did someone know he would be coming? Who was this Charon man and was he a friend or a foe?

Fakir rolled up the map and stuffed it and the book in his sack.

"Thank you for your time but we need to get going," Fakir said and turned to leave.

"Yes, thank you for letting Fakir be a jerk," Altor snickered.

"Altor! Come on!" Fakir hollered.

"Excuse me. Gotta go," he said and rushed after Fakir.

The woman just stared after them blankly as they left and just as the door closed she picked up her stamp and went back to doing the same old job she had been doing for nine years.

Altor finally caught up to his brother as they reached the street and he tried to get a hold of the map but Fakir kept it away from him.

"Come on, let me see it. You got a better look at it than I did," he said, almost whining.

"Your fault."

"Oh, come on. Why are you like this to me? You're never like this to…" Altor stopped as he saw a large crowd gathered at the end of the street. "What do you suppose that is?"

"No idea. Let's go find out," Fakir quickened his pace to see what the onlookers were doing.

They got to the edge of the crowd when they heard a loud cry and a quack. Fakir's eyes grew wide. It was Duck's quack. She was frightened and he could tell. He began pushing through the crowd and finally broke through the barrier to see Duck being chased by a soldier on top of the roof. The soldier was connected by a cable to a hovering airship and for some reason he was after Duck.

"Duck!" he cried as he stared.

"Fakir! Help me! Please!" she cried just as she slipped on a shingle. "Ah!" she cried as she slid down the roof. She was just barely able to stop herself from falling off when the soldier grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to her feet.

"You're coming with me," he said as he wrapped his arm around her waist, waiting for the cable to pull him back up.

"Don't you dare!" Fakir yelled and grabbed someone's cane.

He threw it at the soldier and hit him directly in the back of the head. Good aim Fakir! The soldier let go of Duck and held his head. Fakir was about to rush inside when Duck slid off the side of the roof. She fell quickly and Fakir was just barely able to catch her before she hit the ground.

They rolled a good five feet before they looked back at the soldier who had pulled out a gun. He pointed it at Fakir and Duck but instead of firing, his cable was pulled tight and he was thrusted up into the air making him drop his gun.

Fakir looked down at Duck, who was shaking like a leave, and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I…I th…think so," she said in between gasps. "Who…who was that?"

"He was a soldier from the castle," Rue said as she came out of the shop. "Oh, Duck, are you okay? I was so scared. I wish I could have done something."

"Then why didn't you?" Fakir asked harshly.

"We were trapped down in the tunnel and we only just now got out," Rue said and hugged the bird-girl. "I know I should have seen this coming."

The four of them didn't seem to notice the murmurs and whispers of the on looking crowd nor the fact that there were two more cables with soldiers attached being lowered down onto the roof. Mytho, Pique and Lillie came out of the shop and made their way to the group when the two soldiers jumped down and grabbed the two girls.

"Hey! Let us go!" Pique cried as she pounded on the soldier's arms. "Rue! Help!"

They all looked up to see the blonde and pink haired girl getting pulled up to the enormous airship. Fakir stood up and stared with an expression of exasperation. How could they try to take Duck and then when they weren't looking they take the other two girls, but why just them? Why didn't they go after Rue?

Fakir turned to her and glared. There was something about her that was bugging him and he just had to know what it was.

"Rue, why didn't they go after you? Why did they only go after Duck, Lillie and Pique? If they were only after the girls then why didn't they go after you?" he asked, forcing his hands to NOT strange the answer out of her.

"I…I don't know. I wish I did but I don't," she said in her defense. "I don't even understand why they came. We haven't done anything wrong."

"Just existing could be reason enough for the Raven," Fakir said then turned to Mytho. "Why didn't you do anything?"

Mytho just looked at him.

"You're useless! You can't do anything can you?" Fakir growled at the pale boy. "You no-good, worthless moron!"

Fakir was just about to grab Mytho when Altor came up and held Fakir back.

"Let me go!" Fakir struggled.

"Just calm down, Mytho couldn't do anything just like we couldn't," Altor pleaded as he struggled against his brother. "Don't go making up stupid excuses for something we couldn't handle."

"Fakir, please don't be mad," Duck said as she walked up to him.

"Let…me…GO!" Fakir cried and swung his brother off of him and accidentally smacked Duck across the face. She fell backwards as she held her cheek and they looked at each other in surprise. Her eyes started to water and he tried to apologize. "Duck, I…it was an accident."

She didn't listen. She got up and ran into the shop, tears streaming down her face. He didn't know what to do. Should he go after her? Should he leave her alone? What was he supposed to say to her? He looked at Altor then Rue then Mytho who were all staring at him with contempt (except Mytho cause he didn't really get what happened).

"Look at what you've done because you couldn't control your anger," Altor said with his arms crossed. "If you're really sorry then you'll learn from this and stop getting hysterical. I just can't believe you."

Fakir stood there and watched as Altor, Myto and Rue walked back into the shop, leaving him alone on the street. He looked down at his hands then back at the building. How could he let himself get so overcome with anger that he couldn't control himself? Was he turning into the Hulk or something? Man, could you imagine him turning green? That would actually be pretty funny to see. Oops, sorry, went off topic.

Anyway, was it the fact that his ability to show he was happy was taken away that he was starting to believe that he couldn't be happy? He ran his hand through his hair as he tried to straighten out his thoughts and he sighed. He had to apologize to Duck and everyone else for reacting the way he did. It was stupid and way below him. He couldn't believe he stooped to the level of smacking a girl. It just wasn't him and he had to fix it.

He slowly started walking into the shop and stopped as everyone stared at him when he walked in. He looked at them (mostly Duck) but didn't say anything. He continued to the assembly room where he sat at the table and put his head in his hands. He couldn't stop thinking of the look that Duck gave him. She was definitely scared of him now, it was obvious but what to do about it was so much harder to think about.

He lifted his head and held it up with his fists intertwined. He looked at the doll that was lying on the other table and then to the wall. He had to think about what he had found in the library but the image of Duck's frightened face kept interrupting him. For some reason it hurt him to see her scared of him. He's scared others before but he never cared so why did it cause him so much anxiety when he saw Duck's face?

He covered his eyes with his hands and muttered, "God, I am such a moron."

"That's only if you don't do something about it."

Fakir turned around to see Altor walk in. He wasn't looking at his brother but it was obvious he was talking to him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Fakir asked.

"If you don't fix the problem then it only gets worse. Stop beating yourself up, just apologize. I know I got mad at you but that's just what I call tough love," Altor said and grinned. "It's supposed to make you think and it worked. Don't sit there like a lump on a log, go say you're sorry."

Fakir looked at Altor for a second then stood up. Altor was right, the only way things could get worse was if he didn't explain that he really didn't mean to hit her. He just hoped that it would be enough.

"Okay, I'll go talk to her," he said and left, his hands in his pockets and his head hanging just a little as he thought of what to say.

He walked out to the front shop only to see Mytho and Rue more or less conversing. They stopped when he walked in and looked at him questioningly.

"Where's Duck? I need to talk to her," he said.

"She went back to her room but I doubt she'd want to talk to you, you jerk," Rue said as she looked at him with anger in her face.

Fakir didn't say anything to her. He knew why she was so upset. She was like Duck's sister or mother and she hated seeing Duck get hurt. It was understandable for her to hate him (not like he cared if she did or not) and so he just turned around to go to Duck's room. He stopped in front of her door and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

He knocked three times on her door and called, "Hey, Duck, it's me Fakir. Can I talk to you?"

"Huh?" he heard her say through the door. "F…Fakir?"

He heard her walk to the door, nearly trip and finally turn the doorknob. She opened the door and there was already a bruise beginning to form on her face from where he hit her. She looked up at him with puffy red eyes and tried to smile a hello but couldn't.

"Duck, I just wanted to say…sorry. I really didn't mean to hit you. It was an accident and…" he couldn't keep going because she started to tear up again. "Duck, please don't do that. I swear it was just an accident."

"I know but that's not why…that's not why I'm crying," she said and wiped at her eyes. "Pique and Lillie are gone and it just doesn't seem fair. Why were we being chased? What did we do wrong?"

"I don't think it has anything to do with what you did or didn't do," he said, his hands still stuffed in his pockets. "Maybe it's just that Pique has magic or something. It just might be because you're not from around here or something." He was just coming up with suggestions of why but he didn't believe any of them himself. He had to come up with an answer or he was just going to go crazy with questions just like Duck. "I really don't know."

"Fakir, will we ever see them again?" she asked, her hands now grasping each other under her chin.

"I don't know."

"Oh, Fakir, why is the Raven so mean?" she asked and cried into his shirt.

"Duck, I…" he stopped. He suddenly remembered what he had gotten from the library. "There just might be a way to get them back."

"Huh?" she asked and let go.

She watched as he began to shuffle through the bag that was still hanging over his shoulder and wondered what he meant. He pulled out the map and opened it, showing her the two paths.

"Look, this shows a secret tunnel into the castle. If we can just find it, we could get Pique and Lillie out of there before anything happens to them," he said quickly.

"But they were taken into one of those airships," Duck sniffled.

"I know and those ships take all the prisoners to the castle. That's where they'll be and that's where we'll go," he said and grabbed her hand. "Come on, we've got to tell the others."


	17. A Daring Rescue

Chapter 17

A DARING RESCUE

Pique and Lillie struggled against the guards as they were dragged to the throne room of the castle. Pique would have tried some of her magic but she actually didn't think of that like at all. Lillie was useless, she was as dumb as a door nail and even weaker. They had no way of fighting off these big soldiers and even if they did they wouldn't have gotten very far because of all the other soldiers that lined every hall.

They finally reached the throne room and noticed that there were several other girls about their age who were also kidnapped. They were thrown into line with the other girls and it wasn't long before the king made himself known.

All the girls (except Pique and Lillie) were all shaking and huddling together. They just looked at each other in confusion.

"Hello girls. Do you know why you're here?" the Raven asked with an evil smile.

All the girls shook their heads no.

"Well, the fact is that there is a girl that doesn't belong in this city. A girl that shouldn't even exist and I'm trying to find her. Are any of you girls that girl?" he asked as he pushed his face right up to a blonde haired girl.

"I seriously doubt that," Pique smirked.

"Yeah, how are we supposed to know if we're some girl that shouldn't exist? We wouldn't exist right?" Lillie giggled back.

The king turned and glared at the two girls. He walked up to them and stared down with a stare that made everyone tremble before him but not Pique and Lillie. Nope, not those two. They were too stupid to be scared and they just looked up at him with a grin on their faces.

"Do you know anything about the Princess?" he asked, steel in his voice.

"Princess? What Princess? There hasn't been any Princess since you took over," Pique said. "You might be a bit delusional sir if you can't even remember something you destroyed."

"Delusional!? How dare you…"

"Yeah, that's just stupid. How come you can't remember every person you've killed? Isn't there some sort of memory thing in evil people that makes them remember every evil thing they did?" Lillie asked and the two girls giggled. "You're a bad evil person. You should just throw in the towel and give the job over to someone else."

"And who would you suggest?" Pique asked.

"Me. I could be a good villain, couldn't I?" Lillie asked proudly.

"I'm sure you would be awesome as a villain," Pique said, not even noticing how angry the king was getting. "You'd have so much destruction and weird ideas of fun and…"

"SILENCE!" the king hollered.

"Silence is an alien," Lillie said with a grin.

"Shut up! You two have disrespected me for long enough!"

"I don't think it's even been five minutes and already we've gotten someone mad at us," Pique said and shook her head in mockery disappointment. "We suck."

"Yeah," Lillie said with the same mockery then they both laughed.

"Take them to the dungeon and get ready for their public executions!" the king ordered.

"Public? Will there be popcorn?" Lillie asked. "If there's no popcorn how will you ever get anyone to stay and watch?"

"Take it from her, she knows exactly what she's talking about," Pique said to the king.

"You need a lot of popcorn and it has to have tons of butter of you'll never satisfy the audience. If you want them to come back you need to make sure they're happy," she babbled on. "Oh, and you can't forget the intermission with the little entertaining acts to keep people in their seats or…"

"Will you shut up!?" the king yelled at the girl. "Take them to the dungeon. Now!"

"Yes, sire," the soldiers said and dragged the two girls off with Lillie still rambling on.

The king shook his head then after gathering his complexion he turned to the other girls and said, "You have seen what will happen if you disrespect me and disobey me so tell me, are any of you the girl I'm looking for?"

"No," they all whimpered at the same time.

"Fine. Take them all to the dungeon too. Someone will speak up eventually," the king said and sat down in his throne, annoyed. He heard chuckling coming from behind the chair and groaned. "You lied to me. She wasn't there."

"Oh, but she is out there. I know she is because she used to work for me," Drosselmeyer said as he walked out. "You see, you have two of her friends. It won't take long for a rescue mission. Just wait, sire, she will come to you."

"You had better be right or you'll be the one to get publically executed," the king snarled.

Drosselmeyer just laughed.

* * *

"Where did you get this?" Rue asked as Fakir opened the map.

"I got it from the library. Why?" he asked.

"This is just too good to be true!" Altor said excitedly. "Look, it gives us the perfect route into the castle without being seen. We couldn't have gotten this at a better time."

"We can save Pique and Lillie?" Duck asked.

"I'm not promising anything but this is a one shot deal. If we get caught we're done for," Fakir said seriously.

"But if we can make it to the mountains we'll be safe," Altor pointed out. "We could take this trail up to the mountains. I doubt the Raven even knows it exists."

"If this map has been hidden for nine years then that is a good possibility," Rue agreed, "however, he has the airships and he could spot us easily with those."

"We could go at night," Duck said with a grin.

"Aren't the airships refueled every two hours?" Mytho asked, surprising everyone with his voice.

"Yes and that will be the best time to get from one section of covered land to another. It might take a while but it's worth a shot," Altor said.

"Or we could hitch a ride on the train to this point where we could make it to the mountain borders on foot," Fakir said as his finger followed the route.

"Yeah, that could work too," Altor said as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go save Pique and Lillie!" Duck said and was about to leave when Fakir grabbed her arm.

"Whoa, slow down. We don't have all the equipment we'll need. We still need to get some more weapons in case we run into a battle," Fakir said then let go. "We'll gather that up then go and get your friends."

"They're your friends too," Duck said.

"More yours than mine," Fakir said and looked back at the map.

Duck looked at Rue and she just shrugged. He didn't think of them as friends? How could he when they obvious think he's their friend? Oh well, that's Fakir for ya.

He rolled up the map and stuck it back in his sack and left the room. He went into the assembly room for a few minutes and came back out with two swords and a dagger. He gave the swords to the two boys and the dagger to Rue.

"These are just in case we have to fight. I know it's not really much but we have to make the best of everything," he said then disappeared back into the assembly room.

Everyone listened for what he might be doing and finally they heard wheels squeaking and gears cranking to life. Altor smiled and laughed to himself cause he knew exactly what was going on. Fakir was turning on Uzura. After weeks of working on her, they had finally finished her and she was ready to work.

Fakir walked back up the stairs with the small robot behind him and shrugged at Duck's surprised look.

"Everyone, this is Uzura," he said and let the robot walk up to Duck and Rue.

"Hello," Duck said happily.

"Hello, zura," the robot said with a blank expression.

"Oh, my name's Duck, not zura," Duck said.

"Hello Duck, zura," Uzura said, her voice sounding just as mechanical as she looked.

"Fakir, why does she keep calling me zura?" Duck asked.

"I don't know. Something must have been messed up in the programing," Fakir said from the doorway.

"Oh," Duck turned back to the childbot and smiled. "It's nice to meet you. How do you like being alive?"

"I'm happy, zura!" she cried.

"Now how would she know? She has less emotions than Mytho," Fakir said.

"Actually, I…um, kinda added the idea of emotion in her network. She thinks she's happy cause I gave her the idea," Altor said, rubbing the back of his head. "I just wanted to try it out to see if it would work. I thought why not try it on a child robot. Can you imagine if she spoke like Edel when she looks like a five year old? It would be very confusing."

"Why did you make her a five year old?" Rue asked.

"I didn't have enough supplies for an adult looking robot so I just had to make a smaller one," Altor explained. "She was actually harder to make because I had to figure out how to fit all the same gears in a smaller area. It was tough."

"Okay, thank you for the exposition of three months ago. I didn't turn her on for us to analyze her, she's here to take care of the shop while we're gone," Fakir said.

"Where are you going, zura?" the childbot asked, her big empty blue eyes looking up at him.

"Nowhere. You just need to keep this shop in order till we get back," Fakir stated.

"I want to go too, zura!" she cried. "I don't want to be alone, zura!"

"Edel will be here," Duck said kindly. "You won't be alone."

"Really, zura?"

"Yep, see? She's right there," Duck said and turned the childbot to face the taller counter lady.

The childbot walked up to the counter and tried to look over. She could barely see the top of Edel's head as she asked, "Are you Edel, zura?"

"I am. Can I help you little miss?" Edel asked sweetly.

"Will you be staying with me, zura?"

"Yes."

"Well, that was helpful, zura," Uzura said sarcastically. "I still wanna go, zura."

"Too bad. You're staying here," Fakir said as he crossed his arms.

"Fakir, treat her like she was a child," Rue said.

"No, she's a robot and she was created to stay in this shop," Fakir said.

"But like a child, she'll probably want to go and defy you," Rue said. "Believe me, I know."

Fakir rolled his eyes and left the room. He couldn't stand it when Rue talked sensibly and he just wanted to get to the castle, get Pique and Lillie and get to the mountains.

"Where's he going, zura?" Uzura asked as she watched Fakir leave.

"Probably to sulk," Altor said and shook his head. "He really needs to get his anger under control. Geez, it's almost as if running isn't fast enough for him."

"But he's right, we need to get to the castle to save Pique and Lillie," Rue said and picked up the dagger. "I sure hope I won't need to use this but if I have to…I have to. Come on Duck, let's get some things to take with us. We might need some other clothes or something in case something happens."

The two girls left the room leaving Altor and Mytho with the childbot.

Altor looked over at Mytho and asked, "You need anything?"

"I don't know."

"Didn't think so," Altor said and walked out of the room.

"Who are you, zura?" Uzura asked, walking up to Mytho.

"Huh?" he asked and looked down at the childbot. "I'm Mytho."

"Mytho, zura? That's a funny name, zura," she said.

"Okay," he said and looked blankly at the doorway in front of him.

She was very confused by him and she just shrugged as she wandered around the room blindly looking for something to do. It wasn't long before everyone came back and they were ready to leave. Rue and Duck had a few necessities while Fakir and Altor had just the basic weapons and possible tools to bring with them and Mytho just stood there like he didn't belong which is easy to believe.

They headed out and as they disappeared around the corner none of them realized that Uzura had followed them out onto the streets. She walked around behind them until they passed a toy shop and she stopped. She looked into the window and saw a drum. She thought for a second then ran into the shop. She raced into the window and took the drum and she was gone down the street before the store owner even noticed the drum was gone.

Duck was walking with Mytho and Rue while Fakir and Altor led the way. They went down street after street and it seemed to Duck that the closer they got to the castle the more deserted the city got. However, that was because of the public execution that was about to happen in the middle of the square. None of them knew about until they passed a bulletin board and Duck just happened to look at it.

She stopped and ran back to it. She grabbed the paper she saw and quickly ran up to Fakir.

"Fakir! Wait!" she cried and he stopped.

"What?" he asked.

"Look. Pique and Lillie aren't at the castle, they're going to be here in town for a public…ex…e…cut…ion. What's that?" she asked after trying to read the long word.

"Let me see that," Fakir said and read the paper. "Holy crap! It's going to be a public execution! They're going to get killed in front of the entire city."

"Oh no!" Duck cried.

"What are we going to do?" Altor asked.

"We're going to stop it," Fakir said and crumbled the paper. "Come on, we've got some friends to save."

They all ran off to the middle of town with anger and desperation in their hearts. What could Pique and Lillie have done that led to a freaking public execution? It wasn't right and all the kids knew it. They had to stop the execution and get to the mountains before anything else happened to them or the city. Perhaps in the mountains they'll find what they're looking for to stop the Raven and hopefully they could end his reign of terror forever.

They stopped when they saw the crowd that surrounded the guillotine and all of them gasped when they saw Pique and Lillie standing up there just chatting away as if it were some sort of graduation. Their hands were tied in front of them and the blade was freshly sharpened and yet the two girls didn't even seem to notice.

"What the hell are they doing?" Fakir asked. "They're acting as if this is just a show."

"Maybe they don't understand what an execution is," Duck suggested.

"We don't have time to scold them for being stupid," Rue said as she pushed through the crowd. "We just need to get them out of here."

"Right, let's go," Fakir said and they followed Rue through the crowd.

They were stopped by a row of soldiers that kept the onlookers back and the victims in. Rue looked up on the guillotine platform and saw the Raven and she gasped. It was a frightening sight for her and she was afraid that he would recognize her but that wasn't why they were there. They needed to get Pique and Lillie out of there before their heads went rolling down the street.

"Okay, so we're this close, now what?" Altor whispered so the soldiers didn't hear.

"We need some sort of distraction," Fakir whispered back.

That was when the strange noise started. Nobody planned it, no one even knew what it was. It sounded like a drum that had no beat and a child screaming out random nonsense but where it was coming from nobody knew, not even Fakir. He looked around then finally spotted her, Uzura. Uzura was marching around under the guillotine platform pounding on a drum and screaming obnoxiously, completely oblivious to what was going on around and above her.

"Will someone find that racket and get rid of it!?" the king yelled, shaking the platform.

"Yes sire," the soldiers bowed and began to look for the noise.

"This is our chance," Fakir whispered as the soldiers fanned out.

He waited for the right moment then ran to the platform. He cut off Pique and Lillie's bonds and pushed them behind him with his sword pointed out in front so to protect hem if someone attacked. Altor came up on the other side and did the same thing while Mytho grabbed the two and brought them to Rue.

The king was furious by the interruption and ordered, "Kill them! Kill them all! They will not live to see another day for defying me!"

"Yes sir!" the soldier shouted and began to circle the two brothers.

"What now genius?" Altor asked.

"Now we fight," Fakir said as he mentally dared the soldiers to come at him.

The first soldier took the dare and almost immediately regretted it. Fakir blocked his shot and swung around just as swiftly, cutting his arm off. It was grotesque but it was necessary and after two more blows like that to two other soldiers they began to retreat. It was the perfect opportunity for the brothers to leave when they saw Uzura getting dragged out from under the platform.

"Let her go!" Altor hollered and charged at the soldiers.

They let the childbot go and got ready to fight only to flee as Fakir came up beside him.

"Are you okay, Uzura? Did they mess with any of your gears?" Altor asked.

"No, zura, they just picked me up."

"I thought we told you to stay at the shop!?" Fakir asked angrily.

"She gave us the distraction we needed so stop being so mean," Altor said.

"She didn't listen to…" Fakir's sword spun him around to stop the attack of another soldier. "Just get her out of here and make sure everyone else is okay!"

"What about you?" Altor asked as he grabbed Uzura.

"I'll catch up. Get going!"

Fakir made one last swing at his attacker before he looked at the king with contempt. What Fakir didn't realize is that his little heroics only got the king more interested in who he was. It wasn't every day you get to see a boy fight off almost an entire army of well-trained soldiers in just a few minutes and he watched as Fakir ran to his friends. His eyes landed on Rue and a grin crossed his face. Rue could feel his look and she glanced back only to see the sneer. She quickened her pace and ran to catch up with the others.

The soldiers began their pursuit and the king let out a little chuckle. Drosselmeyer walked up behind him and also grinned.

"What did I tell you, sire? The girl came as expected but I seemed to have forgotten to warn you about the dark haired boy, he's a handful," Drosselmeyer said.

"Yes, he was very fascinating and not only that but I found my daughter," the king laughed again. "She will come back to me. She will soon be begging to come back to me."

"That's good is it not?" Drosselmeyer asked, his grin spreading across his face.

"No!" the king suddenly turned around and grabbed Drosselmeyer by the shirt collar. "She's not who I was looking for! Where is the girl I was looking for? This Duck girl, where is she? You promised me the surviving Princess so where is she?"

"She was there. I swear, you majesty. She was right next to your daughter, she had the orange feathers," Drosselmeyer said as he tried to keep a calm complexion.

"Next time I don't get her you will lose your life," the king said then grinned evilly. "Is that understood, Herr Drosselmeyer?"

"Yes, sire," Drosselmeyer said, his grin completely gone.


	18. Escaping the Raven

Hey there, hi there, ho there, here's another chapter to my story. Now I think this is a bit late but warning, there are some violent parts in this story here but don't freak, it's not like I descibe exactly what you would see...that would just be disgusting. Anyway, so now the Raven's been introduced and the real crap is going down. How will the heros get out of this? Read and find out.

Oh, please don't hate me for what happens to Fakir, it's sort of important to the story...sort of. Yeah, we'll see how this plays out.

Enjoy! :D Tee hee.

* * *

Chapter 18

ESCAPING THE RAVEN

Fakir led the way through the back streets of the city, trying to keep the group out of sight from all the soldiers that were crawling around every street. They had to make short sprints between buildings and slowly slide down walls to not to get caught. It was very difficult for Pique and Lillie to stay quiet because they were so rambunctious but somehow they were able to stay silent.

Fakir was about to cross another street when two soldiers appeared on that same street. He stepped back and flattened himself against the wall until they passed. He was about to continue when Rue grabbed his arm.

"Fakir, there's something I need to tell you," she whispered.

"Not now," he said without looking at her. "We can discuss things later."

"No, I need to tell you now," she said and pulled him back.

He finally looked at her and it was clear that she was very upset about something.

"Rue, is something wrong?" Duck asked as she walked up and touched her arm.

"There's something all of you need to know. It's something you deserve to know," she said softly without looking anyone in the eye. "It's very important you know this because I have a feeling I won't be around in the future. I just need to…I need to know I can trust you to do what you have to if it comes down to it."

"What are you talking about?" Fakir asked.

"It's important because it could be the difference between life and death," she said and took a deep breath. "I…I'm the Raven's daughter."

Everyone's (except Mytho's) eyes grew wide and their jaws dropped. It was a complete shock to all of them and nobody knew how to take it, except Fakir. He just let his anger talk for him.

"What!?" he cried.

"Shh, not so loud," Rue said as tears began to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry about not telling you."

"What the hell? You're the Raven's freaking daughter? How long where you planning on telling us?" Fakir demanded.

"I was hiding from him. I couldn't tell anyone or he might have found me," she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I ran away when he conquered Gold Crown. I hate him but he'll want me back now that he knows where I am. I'm so sorry. I've put you all in more danger than before and it's all my fault."

"Rue," Duck said and hugged her friend.

It was so scary to see her closest friend crying and Duck was afraid that Rue might not want to be friends with her anymore. Fakir stood there and glared, thinking to himself and wondering what it could all mean.

"So, if you're the Raven's daughter then how is it that you're able to see the future? That's not exactly a normal thing for a princess to do," Fakir muttered.

"I…I seemed to have a knack for seeing the future and it just got stronger over time," she sobbed. "That's why I went to the circus. It was a place I could hide."

"But the Raven's magic could have found you anywhere," Altor said.

"Not at Drosselmeyer's circus. The magic he used to keep the performers in was just enough to cloud my father's ability to track me," she sniffled. "That's how I hid for so long but…ever since I left the circus I've been having nightmares of my father finding me. I haven't had a decent night's sleep since then."

"Oh, Rue," Pique said and put her hand on her shoulder.

"And when did you plan on telling us this? It's not something you'd just forget about so why did it take you so long?" Fakir asked.

"I had to make sure I could trust you. It's hard to tell someone their father is trying to chase you down and force you to be an evil Princess. I don't want to be a Princess if I have to do evil things and…and I just couldn't handle all the death that followed him everywhere," she said and put her face in her hands.

It was very moving for the girls and even Fakir felt a bit sorry for her but he knew that they had to keep moving.

"Come on, we can't stay here much longer. We need to get to the train station before we get spotted," he said as he looked around the corner. "It's clear for now. Let's move."

They made their way across the street with Rue trying very hard to wipe the tears from her eyes and look normal but the stains on her cheeks didn't leave that easily. They raced in and out of shadows and down back alleyways until finally they got to the train station. They waited for the last of the cargo to get put on one of the cars and then they sneaked on. Just in time too because right after Mytho's foot got past the doorway it closed, sealing them into semi-darkness.

Fakir pulled out a small flashlight and held it over the map as he read it.

"So, we'll ride this till the stop at River Road then we'll make our way up the mountain," he said then looked at everyone. "You got that? We're riding this for only a few miles then we're walking."

"Okay Fakir," Duck said and smiled sheepishly at him.

"So, until then we'll just chill," Altor said and leaned against one of the several crates in the car.

"I guess so," Fakir said and put the map away.

He leaned against one of the walls and watched as the girls tried to comfort Rue and as Mytho sat there wanting to help but not knowing how or why. It was strange to also have a little robot with them. She sat down next to Altor and stared at the others. She was just about as confused about what was going on with Rue as Mytho was but…she was a robot. She had no emotion so it didn't matter to her.

The ride didn't take very long and soon they were getting off at River Road where they quickly made their way into some trees so not to be spotted by any possible Raven spies.

"Okay, we'll head straight up then just a bit to the north," Fakir whispered then began to walk away. "Let's get going before someone spots us."

They made their way up the mountain, squatting behind bushes and hiding behind trees whenever an airship flew close by. It was very nerve-wracking but finally they made it to the border between the mountain territory and Gold Crown. However (yep, you knew that was coming), they barely got two hundred feet past the border when an entire platoon of the Raven's soldiers fell from the sky.

Automatically, Fakir pulled out his sword and stood in front of Duck, Pique and Lillie. He had this strange feeling like he HAD to protect them, like it was his duty but it didn't make any sense to him. Altor also got out his sword and so did Mytho, even though it was more of a mimicking action than that of self-defense. Rue pulled out her dagger just in case and soon they were all surrounded.

It didn't take long for the fighting to begin because, well, Fakir more or less started it. He waited for one soldier to get just barely close enough and he wacked to sword out of his hand and just after that the others all jumped in and began fighting.

Fakir had it easy because his sword protected him but the others had to do so much more work. Mytho was just blocking hits instead of actually making them himself, Altor was way out of shape and he was soon begging for breath but wasn't ever given any and Rue tried her best to keep the men away from the other girls. Duck was petrified and she felt like she was about to throw up from all the wounds that were being distributed by Fakir. It was horrible and she just had to close her eyes before it got any worse.

Fakir finished off another three men and he looked over to see Mytho just blocking shots and ran over to him, taking out the men for him.

"If you aren't actually going to fight then go and help Rue get the others out of here," Fakir demanded.

"Okay," Mytho said and went over to them.

Fakir then headed over to Altor who was having a very hard time actually keeping his glasses on and his head on his shoulders.

"Altor, are you okay?" Fakir asked as he helped take out one of the soldiers.

"It's about time you noticed," he huffed. "But yeah, I think I'm good. Just a few scratches but I'll live."

"That's good to he…ow," Fakir's hand shot to the back of his neck and he pulled out a needle. "What the hell is this?"

He looked at it and for some reason in seemed to blur. He shook his head and tossed it to the side. He looked around and saw one of the soldiers hiding behind a tree and he went over to fight him. He swung at the soldier and cut his arm but for some reason Fakir lost his grip on the sword and he dropped it. He was about to get it when he felt the soldier's sword slice right across his chest. Fakir grabbed the fresh wound and cringed in pain. He quickly grabbed his sword and made short work of the soldier, stepping back only so the man could fall to the forest floor.

Fakir put his sword back in his belt and walked, more like stumbled, back over to Altor who also had some back cuts on his arms and chest.

"Good work, now let's…let's get out of here," Fakir gasped as a sudden wave of pain hit him.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Altor asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a scratch," Fakir said and walked over to the rest of the group.

Duck noticed how hard it seemed for him to walk and the red stain that was growing on his chest and rushed over to him.

"OMG, Fakir, you're bleeding," she said as she looked at his face. He had started sweating and breathing hard and his face kept cringing in pain. "Fakir, are…are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he rasped. "Let's get going. We can stop when we reach…"

He tried to take a step forward when he nearly lost his balance.

"Careful," Duck said as she helped him stand. "Maybe we should just stay here so you can rest."

"No, if…if the Raven found us here then he'll…he'll know exactly where…to look again," he gasped and pushed Duck off him. "We…we need to keep…going."

"Fakir, you're going to hurt yourself. Maybe we should look at your wound," Altor suggested.

"No!" Fakir said angrily. "Just get moving."

Duck and Altor looked at each other and sighed. Fakir was so stubborn sometimes and they could easily see that he was in no condition to keep going until that wound was patched up but Fakir didn't seem to think so. They continued walking a short ways and it took only a few minutes for Duck to notice how hard it was for Fakir to keep up. He was still holding his chest but now he looked so weak and tired. The cut on his chest wasn't anywhere bad enough to cause such a drastic response from Fakir but why did he look the way he did.

"Altor, hold up," Duck said as she looked at Fakir who was trying to support himself against a tree. She walked over to him and she could hear just how hard it was for him to breath. She turned her head to look at his face and said, "Fakir, I really think we should look at your wound. You…um, you don't look so good."

"I…I'm…fine," he gasped as he looked at her but just as he did his eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"FAKIR!" Duck cried out in horror. She knelt down and tried to wake him up but he didn't respond. "Altor! Fakir's not waking up. What's going on!?" She started crying from the fear of Fakir not waking up and Rue had to move her away as Altor looked at him.

"Damn it you idiot! Why didn't you let us help you when we could?" he looked at the wound on his chest and shook his head. "This isn't that bad but why did he pass out? Just look at him, he looks sick not hurt to the point of saying I give up. I have no idea what's caused this."

"Fakir," Duck sobbed into Rue's shoulder.

"How could we fix this?" Rue asked as she hugged Duck.

"I have no idea," Altor said and looked at Duck. "Sorry but whatever it is he's going to have to fight on his own."

"No! He won't make it on his own!" Duck cried and ran back to Fakir. She laid her head on his chest over his heart and started crying again. "Please Fakir, don't leave us. You have to be okay."

"What's she doing?" Altor asked quietly.

"I don't know but…let's see what happens," Rue said just as softly, looking at the girl.

Duck's eyes closed as she listened for his heart and slowly her breathes became more rhythmic. It was strange to see Duck become so serious and soon it was obvious to Altor and Rue that she heard something. She started to hear his voice but she didn't understand what he was saying. It was mumbling to her, sort of a soft thrum but somehow when she spoke it all made sense to her.

"He's scared," she whispered, her voice far away and mature. "He doesn't know how long he can hold on. He needs our help. He's getting weaker and it's causing him to lose hope."

Rue, Altor, Pique and Lillie all looked at each other. What was Duck talking about? Was she listening to what his heart was saying? Did she even know that she was doing it? It didn't sound like her and somehow it didn't even look like her. Rue stepped up to her touched her shoulder but Duck didn't even respond.

"Duck, what are you doing?" Rue asked and she lifted the bird-girl's head off Fakir's chest only to suddenly break Duck out of her trance-like state.

"Rue? Will he be okay?" she asked, her eyes showing she had no idea of what she just said.

"Duck, do you know what you just said?" Rue asked.

"Will he be okay?" she asked then tilted her head. "Why?"

"No, before that. Do you remember?" Rue asked.

"I said something before that?"

"She doesn't remember?" Pique asked. "Wow, she's just like you with your flash forwards and stuff."

"Are they related?" Lillie asked.

"No you dumby, they just…I don't know," Pique said and pushed her friend.

"What are they talking about?" Duck asked.

Uzura finally decided she was tired of standing behind Mytho, who wasn't doing anything, and she walked up to her unconscious co-creator.

"What's wrong with Fakir, zura?"

"We don't know," Altor said and pulled her away.

"Damn it, zura!" she cried and banged on her drum.

"Where did you learn that?" Altor asked surprised.

"You, zura. You said it because Fakir is sleeping, zura," she said.

Altor looked at Rue who raised her eyebrow and said, "Monkey see, monkey do."

He just squinted at her to try and show his discontent with her statement only to look up in surprise at a group of men who suddenly surrounded them with swords. Duck clutched Fakir's unmoving body and Pique and Lillie grabbed each other for protection as Altor stood up and looked at the men. They weren't the Raven's soldiers so who were they?

"Who are you?" one of the men demanded from Altor.

"I'm Altor, who are you?"

"Altor, don't be so rude," Rue begged in fear. She was afraid that if they got into another battle they would all surly die.

"We are the army for the Mountain Territory and we take all those trying to invade as prisoner," the man said and put the sword directly under Altor's chin.

"Yeah, well, we just stopped a bunch of them not too far back so if you want you can go clean up that mess," Altor said.

"You stopped invaders? How did you do that?" the man asked.

"It's not important!" Duck cried. "Can you help our friend? He's been hurt badly and…and I'm scared."

The man looked down at the bird-girl and thought for a second. She did look very worried and it seemed as though they HAD gone through a battle so he put his sword down and walked over to the young girl.

"What is your name?" he asked as he knelt in front of her.

"I'm…I'm…" she looked at Rue with fear but Rue just bowed her head saying 'go ahead'. "I'm D…Duck. Please can you help Fakir? He's been hurt and we don't know if he'll make it."

She started to cry and the man saw she was very sincere so he looked at the young man at his feet. He examined the wound and looked at his eyes only to suddenly stand up.

"Men, get this man back to the village immediately!" he ordered. Two men walked up and picked up Fakir, quickly taking him up the mountain.

"Wait! Where are they taking him?" Duck asked as she tried to run after him.

"He's being taken back to our village for immediate medical attention," the man said as he held Duck back. "He has been poisoned with a very powerful drug that is nearly impossible to heal if not tended to within thirty minutes."

"Poisoned?" Duck couldn't believe her ears. Fakir was poisoned? But…how? "Will…will he be okay?"

"If we get him to our village fast enough then yes, he will be," the man said then walked over to Altor. "Can you explain who you all are and what you are doing here so that I can be sure I am not helping the invaders I am trying to keep out?"

"Yes, well, I'm guessing that the Raven is the person you're trying to keep from invading and that's understandable and I'd just like to tell you that we are in fact running from the Raven so we aren't invading, we are just looking for a place to hide," Altor said and crossed his arms. "Have you ever seen four girls and three guys with a five year old robot ever try to invade anything? It's kinda stupid looking, isn't it?"

"I suppose so," the man said and put his sword away. "Follow me, you will rest at our village until your friend is better."

"Sweet, free food," Lillie whispered to Pique. She just rolled her eyes and pushed her friend as they finally started heading to the village.


	19. Meeting Charon

Chapter 19

MEETING CHARON

Fakir's eyes slowly opened to see a very blurry image of a person. He blinked a few times and soon the image came into focus. It was a young woman who was very pretty and she was looking down at him with a kind smile. If Fakir was a normal guy, his first thought would have been 'wow, she's hot' but he wasn't normal in that respect and his first thought was 'holy crap! Who the hell is that?' and 'where am I? Am I dead?' I suppose you could make the argument that he thought that the young woman was an angel but it was mostly because of the fact he couldn't feel anything. Yes, his entire body didn't feel like it was even there.

He was lying on a cot-like bed in a small, dimly lit room and he couldn't tell if he felt hot or cold. His shirt had been removed so his wound could be taken care of and there was a large bandage that wrapped around his chest and under his arms. He was breathing semi-hard and he was having a very difficult time getting his bearings aligned.

Once the young woman noticed Fakir was awake she smiled and patted his forehead with a damp towel. She had dark, dark brown hair that was pulled back behind her head and a thick strand fell in front of her face. She had kind eyes and a warm smile and she seemed like a very trustworthy person.

"It's good to see you made it," she said kindly. "We were worried there for a few days."

"A few…days?" Fakir asked, his throat dry from lack of moisture. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You are…"

"Raetsel," a voice called from the doorway. Fakir did his best to turn his head and he saw an older man in his late forties, early fifties walk in. He went up to the young woman and whispered something to her and she left the room. The man then walked up to Fakir and looked down saying, "How do you feel, son?"

"Like crap. Where am I?" he asked again.

"You're in a small village in the mountains. It's not very big or extravagant like the city but it will keep you safe from the Raven for some time," the man said and pulled up a short stool. "Tell me, what do you remember?"

"Fighting and running then…nothing. I just remember fighting off the Raven's men. Why?" Fakir asked.

"I was just making sure that the poison that was in your system didn't make you forget what you did, at least not completely," the man said. "Oh, by the way, my name is Charon and I do believe that you and your friends were looking for me."

"Charon?" Fakir thought for a second. He knew that name and he knew it was important then suddenly he remembered. "Charon, I need to ask you if…"

"I had the last few pages of that book on the Raven. I know, your brother Altor already told me," Charon said with a grin. "I'm afraid I can only give you the same answer I gave him. I only have one of the pages, I lost the others when our village got pillaged a few years ago."

"Damn," Fakir said and closed his eyes. "So this whole thing was pointless."

"Not exactly. It just seems to have been delayed a bit, due to you getting poisoned and all."

"How long have I been here?" Fakir asked.

"Almost a week."

"A week? My god that's a long time," he was going to raise his hand to his head but found it didn't move. "Okay, question; why can't I move?"

"The antidote numbs your entire body so it can fight off the poison. It keeps the body still and in a neutral position so that it can successfully destroy the infectious invader. You still have a few more hours before it completely wears off," Charon said.

"A few more hours? Dang it," Fakir just closed his eyes once more. He finally realized he couldn't do anything so he just decided to let the antidote finish its job before doing anything else.

"Sir," Raetsel said as she stood in the doorway. "Can he have visitors?"

"I think so," Charon said and stood up. "Now, don't do anything too strenuous for a while, is that understood?"

"I guess," Fakir mumbled.

"Okay, you can let them in," Charon said and walked away.

"You can see him now," Raetsel said.

Altor, Rue and the two other girls rushed in and ran right up to Fakir who still had his eyes closed.

"Fakir, how you feeling? You okay?" Altor asked.

"I already answered that question," Fakir muttered.

"So, what's it like to almost die?" Lillie asked happily.

Fakir opened his eyes just a bit and looked at the blonde. He seemed to somehow always forget that she was extremely weird and he just sighed and closed his eyes again.

"I guess that means it was cool," Lillie said only to get pushed by Pique.

"Where's Duck?" he asked when he realized the bird-girl wasn't there too.

"She hardly left your side all week. She's exhausted so we told her to take a nap," Rue said and smiled a bit. "She was very upset when you didn't wake up."

"Yeah and so was Uzura. For some reason she actually thought she felt fear but she's a robot," Altor said as he pushed his glasses up. "I think I might have gone overboard with the idea of emotion. What do you think?"

"I could really care less about that right now," Fakir said then looked at his brother. "So, you met Charon…did you get any info from him?"

"Well, he said he might know where the other two pages of the book are and that he has this hunch or whatever about you and that maybe Mytho has more to do with our adventures than we think. He's all mystical and stuff and a lot of what he said went right over my head," Altor said and shrugged. "He did however give us a place to stay until you get better and he said that the villagers will help us if we need it…oh, and guess who I met here."

"Do I really want to know?"

"Femio. You remember him right? He was my friend like…years ago," Altor said happily. "It turns out that he came here when the Raven came into power and he's been living here for the past nine years."

"That's nice," Fakir said then looked at Rue. "Did he know about you and your dad? Is he cool with it?"

"Um, I had to tell him because he had this feeling about me and he's…okay with it I guess but the villagers are very distant to me," she said sadly. "I think they're afraid of me."

"It's pretty obvious isn't it? They all part like the Red Sea when you walk by," Pique said, not realizing how mean that sounded.

"Wow, that was mean. That's even worse than me," Fakir said.

"Excuse me," Raetsel said as she walked in once more. "Charon would like to talk to Altor for a minute."

"Well, slaters," Altor said and left the room.

Raetsel stayed and looked at the group that still stood there. She smiled kindly at them and her gaze rested on Fakir who had closed his eyes again. She thought for a moment and left, not quite understanding what Charon saw in the group. They were just kids, what could they do? It didn't matter because she was never going to leave the village to find out.

For another few hours Fakir stayed in bed then finally, FINALLY he could get up and he went outside to see his friends all chilling in a pavilion like thing that was in the middle of the village. He found his shirt was cleaned and someone had sewn the big cut together and he put it on as he left the small building.

"Hey Fakir! You already look so much better," Altor said happily as his brother walked up.

"I still don't feel that great though," Fakir said then sat down next to Uzura. "I am glad I'll live though."

"Then why don't you show it, zura?" the childbot asked.

"Heh heh, don't bother Fakir about that. He's not in the mood," Altor said and covered the childbot's mouth. "Let's…change the subject shall we?"

"Is Duck still asleep?" Fakir asked, his eyes half closed. He was still a bit drowsy from the antidote but he wasn't going to let that keep him in bed any longer.

"Yep, she's sound asleep. She probably won't be up till tomorrow," Rue said.

"Or she'll be up all night," Pique giggled. "Guess you two can catch up then."

"Right," Fakir said and sighed. "So, I guess we can just kiss stopping the Raven good bye. We have no way of knowing how to kill him because we don't have the pages and we're now outlaws. What else could go wrong?"

"Monsieur Fakir! It's been too long," Femio called and gave Fakir a friendly punch in the arm.

"I had to ask," he grumbled. "Hello Femio. It's great to see you too."

"Awe, I'm very sorry about what 'as 'appened to you but zat is no reason to be so down in zee dumps," Femio said with a grin. "Tings will get better, I am certain."

"That's just great," Fakir said. "Thanks for your input."

"You are very welcome."

"I was being sarcastic," Fakir mumbled.

"Que?"

"Never mind."

"D'accord."

Fakir rolled his eyes and leaned back against the bench seat. The group continued to discuss things that may or may not be relevant to their mission but it didn't matter to Fakir because he tuned them all out. He was trying to think of things but nothing got past 'I wonder if' and he just ended up going into a daydream state where he didn't even know what he was thinking about.

Now, in another part of the village, Duck was waking up from her nap and she wasn't sure if she should go visit Fakir. She was afraid that the worst had happened and he would never wake up when Raetsel walked in carrying Fakir's sword.

"Quack!" Duck cried. She was so scared that Raetsel was going to tell her Fakir was gone and that Duck now had to keep the sword and she started to cry.

"Duck? Why are crying?"

"He's…he's never waking up is he?" she asked through sobs.

"No, he's awake and with the others right now," Raetsel said and smiled at Duck's beaming face.

"He is?" Duck couldn't believe her ears. She jumped out of bed and hugged Raetsel with tears of joy now running down her cheeks.

"Okay, calm down Duck," Raetsel said and pulled Duck away. "I want you to give him his sword. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you just as much as you'll be to see him. Please do this one small favor for me."

"Okay," Duck said and took the sword. She started to run out the door while saying, "Thank you so much Raetsel."

"Of course," she called then stopped and thought. "I hope Charon knows what he's doing."

Duck raced through the village until she saw the pavilion and she stopped. He eyes filling with new tears at seeing Fakir sitting there with the others and she started running towards him, his sword gripped tightly in her hands.

"Fakir!" she cried. "Fakir!"

He looked over to see Duck and he got up to greet her when he saw his sword. He didn't understand why she had it or how she was able to even carry it and he walked towards her. She was about to reach him when she tripped and dropped his sword. It slid across the ground to his feet but he just stepped over it to help Duck.

"Are you okay?" he asked as she got back to her feet.

"Am I okay? You're alive!" she said and swung her arms around his neck. "I feel like I could…fly! I was so scared."

"Okay, okay. You can let go," he said and she loosened her grin. "I was also pretty…scared about dying. It's not something I want to go through again."

She looked at him and she saw that he was being very sincere with her. His eyes softened as he looked at her and she just felt like he should be smiling but he wasn't. She wanted him to smile, just like wanted Mytho to smile but for some reason no matter how happy his eyes said he was his face was always in a pretty neutral expression.

For some reason she felt her face get hot and she looked away. She let go and smiled shyly as he looked down at her.

"Come on," he said and started to walk away.

She skipped next to him and they stopped at his sword. It was strange but as Fakir bent down to pick it up, Duck did so too. They reached for it at the same time and both ended up grabbing together. The second both their hands touched it, it started to glow and it seemed to float up between them. Gold words appeared on the blade and the two stared at it in complete surprise.

Fakir was the first to let go and it dropped to the ground. He stepped back and looked at it then up to Duck whose expression was identical to his. He blinked a few times and soon the gold words faded.

"Um…" Duck said as she looked at it.

"I ain't touching it," he said still in shock. "Whatever just happened I'm not going to cause again."

"Whoa, did you guys see that?" Altor asked from the pavilion. "His sword like glowed."

"Come on! Let's go check it out," Lillie said and jumped out of her seat.

They all rushed over to see what happened and Fakir just stared at Duck and the sword. They all started to talk to one another and "gossip" if you will and none of them seemed to notice Charon and Raetsel also watching from a distance.

"Is that what you were expecting?" Raetsel asked.

"Yes and it just proves my hunch. That young man is the last surviving knight of Gold Crown," Charon said and turned away. "I just wonder if he knows that."

* * *

Hey there so, um, probably not that surprising to find this out right? Well, now we know Rue and Fakir's backstory (sort of) now all we need is Duck's. You guys are just going to have to keep reading to know what happens next.

I really hope you guys like this and I really hope I'm spelling Raetsel correctly. Some of these names are just weird to spell and Word doesn't like them so yeah.

Please tell me what you guys think because I love hearing from you guys. Till the next chapter...


	20. Betraying Feelings

Hey guys! Ready for more Tutu fanfic? Well, if you haven't quite figured out from the past few chapters, things are getting a bit depressing and stuff but I promise it will all get very exciting soon.

So, we get a bit more of how Fakir feels in this chapter and we see how he reacts to his new knowledge of knighthood (it ain't pretty).

Oh, and I'm super thrilled. It's my 20th chapter! Yay me. I've done quite a bit haven't I and I'm not stopping here. There's still more to come so don't get up too quickly.

Enjoy this next chapter! :D

* * *

Chapter 20

BETRAYING FEELINGS

For the next few days as Fakir was meant to heal, the group decided to explore the village. Duck and the other girls went and looked around at the clothes shops and without actually asking they each got a free dress, mostly because Duck was just 'so cute'. You ask Fakir and he'd probably say they tricked the sales person but that's his negativity talking.

The boys however looked around at the tool shops and Fakir found the small library where he holed up for several hours a day. He was very quiet to everyone. He seemed to be in much more of an intellectual mood and he seemed to have pushed his anger to the side for those few days he had to just chill. It didn't take long before Fakir got fed up with just sitting or walking and he soon started to practice his fighting skills once again, only to get scolded by Charon and Raetsel.

He would just roll his eyes and put his sword up. He didn't get mad or yell at them, he still felt too tired to argue with them and he just would walk away with his hands in his pockets. He didn't seem to notice just how closely he was being watched by the two villagers and even if he did he didn't care. He just wanted to stop the Raven…that and get better. His chest would randomly start throbbing and there was nothing he could do to stop it. It annoyed him to no end and it was just killing him to know he couldn't do anything.

One day Altor rushed up to him as he was walking around the village and shoved some papers into his hand.

"Oh, you have got to read these. It's incredible and I bet I could build it," Altor panted.

Fakir calmly opened the papers and looked at the diagrams with moderate interest. He flipped to the next page and said, "It could be cool I guess but you're forgetting one thing."

"What's that?"

"We aren't at your shop. How will you get the pieces for this thing?" Fakir asked as he pushed the papers back at Altor. "It's a really good idea but actually being able to build it is something that's out of our reach at the moment."

"Damn! I didn't think about that," Altor said then scratched his head. "Well, we could ask the villagers if they know any place we could get the parts. It's worth a shot."

"I guess."

"Ah, Altor! Fakir! I've been looking everywhere pour vous," Femio's voice called as he turned the corner. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Fakir said and quickly started walking away.

"Hold on Fakir. We could ask him if knows," Altor said.

"Go ahead. It's your idea, not mine," Fakir said without looking back.

"Zut, what's got his goat?" Femio asked.

"How the hell should I know?" Altor said and they continued their conversation elsewhere.

Fakir walked down the street and stopped right in front of the pavilion where he saw Duck dancing to some music the local children were playing. He watched as she grabbed one of the on looking kids and danced with him, her smile and ecstatic personality making all the other kids smile and laugh. It was one of those rare moments where Fakir completely forgot all of his problems and he just felt like his life wasn't so bad. He watched quietly as she twirled and suddenly stopped, turning around to face him.

"Come on Fakir. Please dance with us," she said holding her hand out.

He looked away quickly then cleared his throat.

"No thanks. I'm not one for dancing," he called but still he didn't move.

He wanted to walk the other way but something in Duck's eyes made him stay where he was. It seemed like she understood what he was talking about. It wasn't like he was lying. He didn't like dancing and that was pretty much it. Well, that and the fact that his chest hurt still and he wouldn't be able to show her if he was actually having fun or not.

She smiled at the kids and whispered to them then rushed over to Fakir, taking his hand and pulling him to the pavilion.

"Come on, it won't kill you," she said as she pulled him.

"Uh…" he didn't really feel like fighting her so he just let her pull him along.

They got to the center of the pavilion where Duck took both his hands (more like the back of his hands) and started to skip around to the beat the children were making. Fakir was a bit startled by how happy she was as she danced and he tried to keep up with her but he couldn't keep his mind on the steps. He was thinking (like always), he was thinking about the Raven, the map, the sword and mostly Duck. He was envious of how she could be so happy even if the problem that was revolving around her was devastating and he wished that it was just that easy.

He continued to let Duck dance with him and it was actually very interesting to see how this small girl was able to get him to step with her and twirl her when she wanted to be. He didn't even understand how she did it but the fact remained that she did.

He twirled her once more and she ended up tangled in his embrace. Her fingers interlocked with his and she leaned back against him. She felt safe, she felt warm and she felt happy. He could see how she felt on her face and he kept his arms around her. He liked the look on her face, it was a feeling he wanted to show or hell, even have and he just looked down at the top of her head, a calm but somewhat tired expression on his face. Neither one seemed to notice that the children (or Charon and Raetsel) were staring at them and even if they did they wouldn't have done anything about it. They were perfectly content to live in the small piece of tranquility that was given to them.

However, Duck soon felt the stares of the children and let go, turning around to give Fakir a sweet smile.

"I'm sorry if I made you do something you didn't want to," she said as she looked at her hand that was still interwoven with his. "I just wanted you to have fun."

"Fun," he said and let his hand drop. "If only."

He looked down at Duck not with anger or exasperation but with kindness. It's not every day someone's able to make Fakir stop thinking of the horrible things that were happening to him.

"What are they doing, zura?" Uzura asked one of the other children. She had been in the crowd of kids the entire time and was watching as they shared this small moment with one another.

"I think they're in love," one of the boys nearby whispered.

"Oh, they're so lovey-dovey. It's so cute," a girl on Uzura's other side squealed softly.

"Lovey-dovey, zura?" she asked as she stared up at the two older kids.

They continued to stand there, not sure what to say and it was soon predominant that Duck was blushing. She didn't quite understand why but she knew that she didn't want Fakir to see so she turned her head away. The silence was becoming too much and Fakir was thankful when Rue and Mytho walked up.

"Oh, hello, what's going on here?" Rue asked sweetly.

"What's lovey-dovey mean, zura?" Uzura asked Rue.

"Lovey-dovey? What are you talking about?" Rue asked then looked at the blush that was beginning to fade on Duck's cheeks. "Oh."

"Hi, Rue," Duck said and rushed up to her friend, stealing one last glance at Fakir. "We were dancing and Fakir…"

"Nothing happened if that's what you're thinking Rue so don't even start," Fakir said as he passed by the fortune teller. "You might as well just stop looking at me."

"Oh," Rue said again as she watched Fakir walk away. She turned back to Duck and asked, "So what did happen?"

"Well, I got Fakir to dance with me and it was fun. That's all I wanted was for Fakir to have fun but…" Duck stopped and put her finger to her lower lip in thought.

"He still doesn't think he can have fun?" Rue asked and Duck nodded. "Figures. He almost dies and he still can't seem to treasure the little moments in life that bring him happiness. What a jerk."

"Maybe he wasn't happy," Duck suggested.

"Oh yes he was. I could see it in his face, he enjoyed it but to have him actually admit it is something else," Rue said and patted Duck's head. "You shouldn't worry about him though. He isn't your problem to deal with."

"Okay," Duck said and turned back to the kids. "Come on, let's keep dancing."

The music started up again and Mytho and Rue sat down and watched the kids have fun. It made Rue smile and it made Mytho wonder what it was that made them happy or even what was 'happy'. He watched but no answers came to him and he just stared, no thoughts entering his mind.

Fakir was walking off once again trying to straighten out his thoughts when he continued to see Duck's happy face in his mind. He couldn't get rid of how content she was and how he felt so…oh, he couldn't describe it. It was a feeling he didn't understand but he wanted to feel it again. It was like nothing he'd felt before and he liked it…in a way he didn't understand.

He walked all the way to the edge of the village and stopped, looking out into the quickly darkening forest as the sun set. It was a sinister sight and yet it looked so peaceful. What if he just walked into the forest and disappeared, leaving all of his problems behind him? Should he dare? Would he dare? He shook his head to get the thoughts out of his mind and turned around to see Charon standing behind him.

"Charon? When did you get there?" he asked in surprise.

"Follow me Fakir. There's something I need to discuss with you," the older man turned and walked back into the city.

Fakir followed with unknowing anticipation and a nervous expectation. What could Charon possibly want to talk to him about? They had already discussed the pages and the Raven several times so what could be the topic this time?

They walked into the small building that was Fakir's hospital room and Charon told Fakir to sit, which he did with a bit of second thought. Charon began to pace, trying to think of what to say and it sort of made Fakir nervous.

"Fakir, I've been thinking very hard since you and your friends came to our village and it seems that it's time I tell you my suspicion," Charon began. "At first I didn't think it could be true but now I know for sure who you truly are."

Fakir's eyes went wide. What was he talking about? What did he mean by truly?

"What are you talking about?" Fakir asked.

"You are a knight, not just any knight, however, you are the very last surviving knight of Gold Crown."

Fakir jumped up. He didn't want to hear about it. He…he didn't want to discuss it.

"Sit back down Fakir, I'm not done," Charon said calmly.

"No, no, s…stop talking right now," Fakir said frantically.

"Listen to me. I'm sure it comes as a shock but I just knew it was you when I saw your birthmark," Charon said. Fakir's hand shot to his right shoulder. He stepped back and looked at Charon with a type of fear that he never knew existed. "I then knew it was true when your sword glowed. It only does that when a knight and…"

"Shut up! I don't care!" Fakir yelled.

"You should care because it'll be up to you to stop the Raven!" Charon said as he grabbed Fakir by his shoulders. "Haven't you had any strange urges to protect someone? Didn't you once think it was strange how badly you want to stop the Raven? Think Fakir. How long have you been having these thoughts but pushed them aside because you didn't want to think about them?"

"Just stop," Fakir said, his voice low.

"I can't. You need to know your duty to this kingdom. It is your job to protect it and it is your job to defend the…"

"I don't care. I didn't ask for this job and I don't want it," Fakir growled and pushed the older man away.

"You weren't given the choice!" Charon said and slapped the frantic boy across the face, making him stumble against the wall. "You were born into the family of a knight and you will uphold the rank of knight. You can't choose to be one or not, it is just how the world works."

Fakir held his face and glared at the older man. He tried to find words to argue back with but he just couldn't. Images of his past began to fill his mind and he lost the fire in his eyes.

"I…I don't deserve to be a knight," he said as he stood up, his eyes were blocked by the bangs that fell in his face and he didn't look the villager in the face. "I just can't do it."

"You haven't given yourself the chance," Charon said, his voice once again filled with wise cryptic advise. "Look, I'm sure finding out about such a powerful responsibility so suddenly is hard but you can't change your fate."

"I didn't just learn about it," Fakir muttered, his face twisted in pain from all the memories he saw. "I've known my entire life but I don't deserve it. I'll never be able to earn it because I…I already lost it."

"What? I don't understand," Charon said as he tried to comfort the young man.

"And you'll never understand! That's why I can't be the knight! I can't protect anyone!" Fakir yelled and ran out of the building.

Charon raced to the door and called, "Fakir! Wait!" but Fakir just kept running.

He didn't stop even as he passed the others at the pavilion or when he passed the library, he didn't stop until he reached the forest where he collapsed to the ground and clutched the grass that was growing under his trembling hands. He could feel the defiant tears begin streaming down his cheeks and he had no control over how his body shook.

He couldn't stop the images that flooded his brain and he couldn't stop the words of Charon that made him think he was going to go insane. He gasped for breath but he never could get enough and his chest suddenly started throbbing just as much as his head. He grasped his chest and choked on every sob that escaped his lips. He was in pain that was far deeper than any cut to the skin, he was scarred mentally and he felt like there was no way he could ever make it heal. He couldn't feel anything but pain and he was afraid of what something like this would do to him. How could he ever live like this? What was his future like if he could never stop feeling the pain of his past?

He tried very hard to think sensibly but how could he when his mind was completely taken over with thoughts he couldn't fight? He tried to stand but he couldn't find the strength, even with the help of a nearby tree and he sank back to his knees.

He kneeled there for several seconds, unaware of time or his surroundings or the sound of small feet walking up behind him. He felt a tiny tap on his shoulder and his eyes flew open.

"Fakir? Are…are you okay?" a soft voice asked.

It was Duck. What was she doing there? It didn't matter, he couldn't answer her. He couldn't even look at her.

"Please, tell me you're okay," she said and knelt next to him. She put her hand gently on his back and said, "I…I don't know what we'd do if you got hurt again."

He slowly looked over at her and he saw that she was starting to cry too. He closed his eyes once more and tried to calm down enough to talk to her but all it seemed to do was spark more flashbacks. He clenched his teeth in fear and anger and a cry of great suffering escaped from his throat.

"Fakir?" Duck whispered. She was very scared. She was scared for him, not herself, and she didn't know how to react to what he was doing. She reached down and softly touched his hand that was still grasping the ground. "Tell me what's wrong. Talk to me…please."

He felt another stream of warm tears fall from his eyes as her hand touched his but as she touched him he felt somehow…warmer. He felt as though the strain that was pulling at him was weakening and he looked at Duck who had leaned her head against his shoulder and also started crying.

"Duck…" he said hoarsely and suddenly started shaking again.

She looked up at him and before he knew it he was hugging her in a tight embrace.


	21. Memories and a Restoration

Bonjour! Here's another chapter. I hope things haven't been to obvious as to what's going to happen in the story but even if it is...what do you expect? It's a fanfic. You're supposed to use already existing characters and things (possibly including backstories) and we already know who getting together with who so...yeah. I'm just saying because I realized (after re-reading the story and some comments) that it is quite obvious where things are headed but hay, who actually watches or reads things for the ending? We already know who wins, it's just the journey, right? Well, that's what it's like for me.

Anyway, I might be taking a bit longer to upload chapters because I'm going to be going to a place that has no internet (except for the library) and I'll have to work on my senior project. I'm writing a book! I just hope it'll work out to be as awesome as I imagine it.

So, have fun reading! There's more movement in the plot so it won't be so...depressing this time. Hope y'all like it. :D

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Chapter 21

MEMORIES AND A RESTORATION

Fakir was staring at the ground. He was just staring. One hand was mindlessly rubbing the wound on his chest while the other was balanced on his bent knee and he balanced his chin on his fist. He was sitting silently next to the tree that Duck had found him during his break down and he had finally calmed himself into a blank peace. Duck sat off a bit to the side, watching him with worry filled eyes and she waited to see if he wanted her to leave. She didn't want to leave him in the state he was in but if he wanted to be alone then she would comply with his wishes.

He was breathing slowly and it looked like he was trying to completely forget about what had happened or think of something to say and Duck waited patiently. He looked over at her slowly and finally sighed.

"Sorry," he said, nearly inaudibly.

Duck was taken aback by the sudden sound of his voice. "Huh? Sorry? For what?"

He looked back at the ground before answering and said, "I didn't mean to worry you."

She didn't know what to say. How do you explain that he didn't need to be sorry? If she wanted to worry about him then it's up to her, he doesn't need to apologize.

She looked at him as he placed his head on his fist again and he said, "I couldn't control myself. I feel so stupid."

"You're not stupid," she said and smiled a little. "I know how hard it is to keep emotion and stuff trapped inside and when it gets to a certain point you just can't stop it from breaking out. It's not fun."

"Yeah," he said and sighed. "The thing is…this hasn't been…the first time."

"Huh?"

"I've been through this before and each time it gets worse," he said and looked over at her. "I still can't control it."

"What…um, what happened that…causes this?" Duck asked, unsure if he would get mad. She didn't want to interfere with his memories if they hurt him too much but she wanted to know.

"The Raven…" he said and looked up. "The Raven destroyed my parents and could have just as easily killed me. I guess you could call me lucky but I think it's been a curse that I got to live but my parents didn't." He looked away and his hand covered his face, "God, why didn't I die with them?"

Duck could see it was painful for him and she slowly moved closer. She reached his shoulder and said softly, "If you don't want to talk about it, I understand."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye and gently grasped her hand. He took a deep breath and said, "I need to tell someone. I can't keep this to myself anymore." He looked at her and asked carefully, "Do you…do you know about the knights?"

"Um, Rue told me that they had this magical armor or something and that the Raven found a way around it and…" Duck noticed the look on his face and finished slowly, "they were all destroyed. Why?"

"My father was a knight," he said and let her hand drop.

"Oh my…I'm so sorry Fakir," she said in stunned shock.

"He was killed when all the other knights were slaughtered but…until that night I had no idea what he did. We lived on the outskirts of the city near the forest and I thought he worked as a merchant or something because he always brought back these big metal plates that he would make into armor or something. My mom never told me anything about it either so when he gave me his sword the night…the night they came I was stunned," Fakir began to explain. "I was only eight and so when my dad told me to run…that's what I did and it was the dumbest thing I could have done. I should have pushed the sword back at him and stayed by his side but no, I was a coward and ran off. I looked back only once to see my home getting destroyed and my parents were still inside. I…I could feel the rage and hatred build in me and…I ran back with the sword slicing anything it could touch."

Fakir stopped and covered his face again. Duck touched his arm again and noticed that Fakir had started to cry again.

"Fakir?" she whispered with worry.

She watched as he tried to calm down again and he clenched his fist in anger.

"I was a monster. I…I was so mad that I just killed without ever thinking and…all I can remember was the blur of fighting off the soldiers," he said and looked back at Duck almost as if he were pleading to her. "I couldn't stop. I couldn't get the anger out of my mind and it drove me…it made me…I just couldn't…I…it still haunts me. I…I even hurt the innocent people that lived nearby. There was nothing I could do."

Duck suddenly realized why he was always so upset when she or any of the others got hurt without reason; it reminded him of the night he just couldn't stop. Her eyes were wide and she felt so sorry for him. It all made sense now. He got so upset when he accidentally hurt her because he felt the pain he still remembers from all those years ago.

She reached over and hugged him. He was startled just a bit and soon he was calm enough to continue. Duck sat back as he continued but she kept his hand in hers, making sure he knew that she was there for him.

He carefully rubbed the stains from his cheeks and began to talk once again, "I blacked out not long after and the next thing I knew I was lying in a bed with Altor and his dad looking down at me. They told me I was found on the side of the road unconscious and hurt with only the clothes on my back my father's sword. After that day I knew that I was a knight but actually being one was a different story." He stopped and took in another breath. "I knew that it was the knight's duty to protect but no matter how hard I tried I could never protect anyone but myself. I eventually gave up on protecting others and I only used the sword when I needed help. I know it sounds selfish but…I swear, I really tired."

He looked at Duck once more and she smiled saying, "It's okay, I believe you Fakir."

He looked down and said softly, "Duck, I'm the very last knight of Gold Crown. My sword is the last surviving piece of armor that the knights wore but it can't protect anyone but me and Charon said that I was the only person who could stop the Raven. I know I have to, I've known that sooner or later someone besides me or Altor would figure out who I was but I just don't think I could ever fight the Raven alone. He took out hundreds in one blow, how is just one supposed to fight him?" he leaned his head on his fist and said, "It's hopeless. I'll never be able to do it."

"Yes you will," Duck said kindly and he looked up. "You won't be alone. You've got us, we'll be there for you whenever you need us."

He looked into her big blue eyes to see only truthfulness and caring and it was obvious that a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. He wrapped his arm around her and said, "Thank you."

Duck smiled and hugged him back. She was very happy she was able to comfort him successfully. She didn't know how she did it but whatever she did worked and she was very proud of herself, well, that and a bit reluctant to except that she did it herself.

They could have stayed there for a much longer time just content to be by the other but suddenly they were grabbed from behind and a hand was flung over each of their mouths. Fakir looked and saw that their captors were a band of thieves and there were at least four. He tried to fight against the two that were holding him when they put a knife against Duck's neck.

"You make a sound or try to get free and the girl gets it," the one holding the knife said nastily.

Fakir could see the fear grow in Duck's eyes and he clenched his fists to keep himself from going ballistic. They soon were dragged from the area and it was pretty obvious the thieves were wary of their surroundings because they were looking around constantly. They got to an area where there was a rocky incline and they were taken inside a large cave. They were put back to back to a stalagmite and tied tightly with a rope.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Fakir asked only to get a gag wrapped around his mouth.

The same thing was done to Duck and the next thing that happened was Fakir's sword was taken by the man with the knife.

"This is a nice sword. It could come in handy," the thief said and tossed it to his partner. He turned back to Fakir and looked at the two teens. "Now, what are two kids like you doing out in the forest this late at night? You could get hurt."

All the thieves laughed and he walked over to a fire ring that had been started. Fakir was getting pissed again. He could easily take on all of those thieves but he knew better. He knew he had to wait for the perfect moment to untie the ropes then attack because if he did it any sooner he would be defenseless without his sword and Duck might get hurt.

Speaking of Duck, she was so sacred she was trying to keep from whining like a frightened puppy. She was also beginning to shake and Fakir could feel it on the ropes that bound them. He pulled slightly against the bonds to get Duck's attention and he gave her a reassuring look. She felt just a bit safer knowing that Fakir was there and that he knew what to do but she was still afraid of what was going to happen to them. Surely Rue or Altor would get worried and a search party would go out to look for them.

It wasn't long before a fire was started and the entire cave was visible to all present. The thieves were just chilling by the fire with no interest in the cave but not Duck. She was very curious about the cave. She had never seen anything like it before and she was intrigued by all the new sights she saw. She looked at the strange rock formations and suddenly saw something that didn't look like it belonged. It was a strange red light that was nestled in the rocks and it soon seemed to begin glowing.

She tugged at the rope to get Fakir's attention and he looked at where she was looking. He also saw it and looked over at Duck in confusion. What was it? It didn't belong there, did it? Why was there a light in a cave and a red light for that matter?

Eventually their behavior caught the attention of one of the thieves and he walked over to the two kids.

"Hey, what are you two doing?"

Fakir and Duck looked back at the thief in surprise and the thief soon began to threaten Fakir.

"What are you two doing? Are you trying to escape because if you are you know exactly what will happen," he said, a dagger under Fakir's chin.

Fakir just looked down at the thief with a silent dare to hurt either himself or Duck but she decided to take the attention away from Fakir. She started pulling against the rope and making muffled sounds so the thief would go over to her. It worked. He left Fakir and went to see what Duck was doing. She made more muttered sounds and pointed in the direction of the red light with her head.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked then looked at Fakir. "You do know your girlfriend is having a seizure right?"

Fakir rolled his eyes. What a moron.

Duck continued to point at the red light and the thief finally looked in its direction. He walked over to it and said, "Huh? What's that?" He picked it up and it was a red jewel. He went back over to his pals, patting Duck on the head as he passed and said, "Thanks kid, you just made us rich."

"What you got there?" the leader of the gang asked as he looked up.

"It looks like a ruby," another thief said.

"Whoa, where did you find that?" the fourth asked.

"Let me see that," the leader said and held out his hand.

"No, I found it, it's mine."

"I'm you're superior so hand it over," the leader said.

"Make me."

As the thieves fought amongst themselves Fakir untied himself and Duck from the stalagmite and he told her to keep quiet. He snuck up behind the rock that had his sword and he grabbed it, hardly making a sound. He was just about to run when he realized that Duck wasn't next to him. He looked back to see that Duck was transfixed on the ruby.

"Psst, Duck," he called in a whisper.

She didn't respond. She took a step forward and then another, getting closer to the fighting thieves and her unquestionable recapture. Fakir ran back over to her and tried to grab her only to get pushed away by the strange magic.

"Duck, don't do this now," he whispered roughly.

"It needs me," she said as her hand rose.

"Hey, how did those kids get free?" the leader asked when he finally noticed Duck and Fakir.

"Get them!" the third thief cried.

They raced at Duck, except for the second thief with the ruby, but Fakir jumped in their way, blocking them with his sword.

"Don't touch her," Fakir growled.

He stared them down and they stopped for a few seconds, a bit startled by his death glare. They pulled out their daggers and went at him only to get knocked off one by one.

Duck continued toward the ruby as Fakir fought and the second thief pulled out his dagger, pointing it at the girl. She got closer and closer and he was about to plunge the blade into her chest when it melted in his hand. He dropped it in surprise and looked at Duck with fear. How did such a small girl do something like that without even trying? He stepped back as she got closer and soon his back was against the cave wall.

Fakir looked over at her just in time to see her touch the ruby and the bright light glow all around her. He lifted his hand to his eyes so he could try to see what was happening only to see the same thing he saw when Duck touched the box at the hardware store. She again was more mature and her feathers were long locks of hair and she had a beautiful white dress on. She lifted her hands into the air and the ruby disappeared into little red specks, fading into the air. The light faded and she began to sway once again.

Fakir ran up to her and helped her stay on her feet. This time she didn't pass out entirely but she was still very drained and he had to hold her carefully so she didn't fall. He looked up at the thief, who was petrified against the wall and shaking like crazy, and he picked Duck up in a cradled fashion.

"What is she?" the thief asked, his voice shaking just as much as his body. "Who is she?"

"I wish I knew," Fakir said and left the cave without another word.

He walked carefully back into the forest and slowly made his way back to the village with Duck barely awake in his arms. She grabbed his shirt and made herself look up at him and she smiled weakly.

"Part…part of Mytho's heart is back," she said and Fakir's jaw dropped. "He can now feel."


	22. Exposition

Exposition, exposition! Yeah!

Hey guys, I know this chapter is pretty short but I had no idea of what to actually put here except for some explanations or what not. Anyway, life's prttey good for these characters at the moment (sort of) and soon the excitement shall return. Mwahahahahahaha!

Enjoy. !D -( is that how you do a winking face? I have no idea how to use texting lingo. HELP!)

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Chapter 22

EXPOSITION

"His heart was a ruby?" Fakir asked as he stopped. "I thought it would be like…oh, never mind. Rue and I already talked about that."

"Huh?" Duck asked weakly.

"After you returned Lillie's ribs Rue and I discussed why they were a box and it seems that Drosselmeyer changed the intangible things into tangible things that more or less represent them," Fakir said and lowered Duck down. "We think the box represented her chest and the rungs kept it together and safe like ribs do."

"That…that makes sense," she said and nearly fell again. "Why do I feel so tired?"

"I have no idea," he said, trying to keep her balanced. "We need to get back, do you think you can walk or should I just carry you back?"

"I'll try to walk," she said and smiled, "Thanks."

"Uh, you're welcome?" he asked. He wasn't sure what she was thanking him for but if it made her happy then why question it? "Come on, the village can't be that hard to find."

"Okay," she said and grabbed his arm for balance as they made their way through the forest.

They walked for at least twenty minutes before they finally found the village and Rue was the first to rush up to Duck, her face full of worry.

"Oh my god, Duck. Are you okay? What happened? Where have you been? You worried me to death," she said and hugged Duck tightly.

"Well, uh, I was…" Duck was cut off by Altor and Femio running up dragging Mytho.

"Dude, this guy actually has a personality! It just came out of nowhere," Altor called and pushed Mytho in front of Fakir.

"Ow, did you guys have to do that? I could walk," he said as he rubbed his arm. He then looked at Fakir and smiled, "I think I can feel. Do you know how it happened?"

"Oh…my…god. He can actually talk," Fakir said, dumbfounded. "Duck, I think you're right. I think you did give him his heart back."

"Duck found another piece?" Rue asked. "Where was it?"

"In a cave. I found it after we got captured by these thieves," Duck said a bit too happily.

"You got captured? Are you okay? Fakir, what the hell happened?" Rue asked, her worry building once again.

"We got back so there's no need to know. We're fine and we got Mytho's heart back so what's the big deal?" Fakir asked.

"He's only got part of his heart back," Duck reminded him.

"Okay, PART of his heart is back," he said and pushed his hands in his pockets. "The only question is what part?"

"Wow! You've got feathers. How did you get them?" Mytho asked as he suddenly started sifting through her "hair". "Are they catchy? This is so cool."

"If I had to make a guess I'd say curiosity," Altor stated with annoyance.

"So he's only got one feeling back? That's dumb," Pique said as she walked up.

"Duck, what did it feel like to hold a heart? Was it gross?" Lillie asked with an evil smile.

"Um, it was actually a gem thingy and I think the feelings are curiosity, a bit of happiness and possibly annoyance but that's just what I felt as I got closer to it," Duck said and yawned. "I'm really tired. I think I'll go to bed."

"Okay Duck, I'll see you in the morning," Rue said and hugged the small girl.

As Duck walked off Fakir called, "Duck, hold on." He rushed up to her and quietly began talking to her, "Um, can you not tell anyone about my break down?"

She looked at him with confusion and asked, "Why?"

"I…uh, it's embarrassing. I just don't want them to think I'm…lame," he said softly. "Just…please don't tell them I *cough* cried."

"But they should know about the knight thing."

"Um, you could tell them about me being a knight if you need to but…don't go into the emotional stuff. If Altor found out he'd never let me live it down," Fakir said.

"Okay, I won't tell them," she said and smiled.

He put his hands in his pockets and said, "Thanks. I owe you big time."

He walked back to the group and she went to her room to sleep. As he walked up to the others he noticed that Rue was giving him a strange look.

"What?" he asked.

"You got kidnapped by thieves? How the hell did that happen?" she asked sternly.

"We were taken by surprise, that's all. It wasn't hard getting away from them either," he said with a shrug.

"You didn't kill them did you?" Altor asked.

"Not exactly."

"What's that mean?" Mytho asked.

"Well, I did fight them off but I just injured them and knocked them out. I didn't really feel like actually…killing them," he said and looked at them hoping they didn't hear the hesitation in his voice. "The last one looked like he was going to have a heart attack, no offense Mytho, so I just walked off with Duck. If he was going to die I wasn't going to be the one to cause it."

"Jeez, can he get any more awesome?" Pique asked Lillie.

"If he could fly maybe," she answered back and they giggled.

"Why did they capture you though? You weren't trying to steal what they already stole were you?" Altor asked.

"No, Duck and I were just…talking and they decided to drag us to a cave and tie us up. They did, however, look like they were expecting an attack or something," Fakir recollected.

"What do you mean?"

"They kept looking around nervously as they dragged us. I guess they thought we were spies or something like that, possibly some of the army people from the village," Fakir shrugged.

"That would be an accurate guess, Fakir," a voice said from behind him.

They turned around to see Charon and Raetsel walking up. Fakir instantly looked away from the older man and silently cursed him out.

"I'm very sorry for upsetting you earlier but it was necessary," Charon said as he put his hand on Fakir's shoulder. "Anyway, those thieves were the ones that pillaged us a few years ago. They've been hanging around the forest because they don't have anything better to do and every now and then we see glimpses of them as we hunt. I never expected them to kidnap any kids before."

Fakir looked over at the man, confused, and asked, "How do  
you know it's the same group of thieves that stole from you? I didn't even describe what they looked like."

"Did they have matching daggers?" Charon asked.

"Um…yeah, they did look the same," Fakir said as he remembered the four men.

"Then it is them. They are the only thieves that lurk in these forests and they are very bad at hiding," Charon said. "I hope they didn't you."

"I hurt them more than they hurt me," Fakir grumbled.

"Didn't Duck say she found Mytho's heart in that cave?" Rue asked.

"Yeah."

"Maybe there are more of them there. Do you think we should go look?" Rue asked, looking at the others hopefully. No one except for Fakir understood why she wanted to get his heart back so badly so they just looked at her like 'is she okay?'

"We could probably look tomorrow but right now we should get some sleep," Fakir said.

"Okay," Rue said and hung her head.

"D'accord. I am tres tired," Femio said and yawned. "All dis searching for metal was exhausting. Good night mes amies."

"Searching for metal? Altor, were you actually trying to build that thing?" Fakir asked, annoyed.

"Yeah and I've actually started to get a good frame going for it," he said proudly.

"What are you talking about?" Mytho asked.

"He wants to build a hover board for some reason," Fakir said and rubbed his temples. "I just think it's going to be a waste of time."

"Well, there's no harm in trying," Altor said and crossed his arms. "Mister 'trying is for losers', I was able to make Edel and Uzura, I can make a hover board. I mean, I have the freaking blue prints! It's going to be a snap."

"Whatever. Go have fun, then. I'm too tired to think right now about it so…'night," Fakir said and walked off.

"Ha! I finally won and argument! What now?" Altor said happily and went to high five Mytho but he was just looking at him confused.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm…ugh, never mind. Let's just get to sleep," Altor said and stomped off.

Mytho shrugged and followed, not quite understanding what either were really upset about but…he didn't care. He had his heart back! Yeah! Go Mytho!


	23. A Strange Dream

Chapter 23

A STRANGE DREAM

Fakir went into his room and slowly shut the door. He stood there, staring at it and thinking without any reason. What was he doing? How was he supposed to believe he could fight the Raven? Sure, Duck told him he wasn't alone but what if she was the only one who felt that way? What if, when it comes down to it, she was the only one to stay by his side? He clenched his fist and walked over to the bed where he laid his sword down. He stared down at it and mindlessly his hand began to rub his cut as he tried to figure out who he should listen to.

Should he believe Duck? Was Charon right about him being the last hope or was Fakir just fooling himself into thinking he was useless? He just couldn't stop the raging argument in his mind and he sat down on the side of his bed with his head hanging in exhaustion. What was he going to do? What if all he did was make things worse for everyone just by standing up to the Raven? What if…what if he couldn't protect his friends?

He knew what he had to do. He understood the weight of the situation but he was afraid of the consequences. He looked across the room and stared at his reflection in the oval shaped mirror that hung on the wall. All he saw was a hopeless boy that was too afraid to do anything because of his past but somehow everyone else saw something different. Duck saw something that he never could and he couldn't get it through his mind that she would help him, not matter what.

He slowly walked over to the mirror and opened his shirt to see the scar-like birthmark that sliced from his right shoulder down his chest. That mark. That mark told him who he was and it told him his responsibility. It also reminded him of the failures he's had. He ran his hand down the mark until it reached the bandage and he stopped. Fighting was in his blood. Protecting was in his blood so why was it so hard for him to except it?

He glared at himself and buttoned his shirt as he walked back over to his bed. He pushed the sword to the ground and laid down, forcing himself to stop thinking about his duty and eventually falling asleep.

* * *

_He was racing through the forest, trying to get away from something. He didn't know what he was trying to get away from but he knew he didn't want it near him. His cape was ripped as he ran and he kept looking behind him in fear. He suddenly stopped in front of a giant cliff. He looked around, trying to find a way out of this dead end when a bright light surrounded every exit. He turned to face the pursuer only to get blinded by the light's brilliance. He stepped back with his arm raised and his back found the wall. He was trapped. He couldn't run anymore, he couldn't run anywhere and he felt as though his feet were made of lead._

_He kept his arm raised as he felt the light get closer to him and he shouted, "Leave me alone! Just leave me alone!"_

_The light dimmed and he heard feet walk towards him. They weren't big or powerful sounding like a monster finally making its move on its prey, no, they sounded soft and gentle like a child walking through a meadow. _

_"Fakir, you don't have to be afraid. I don't want to hurt you," a soft sing-songy voice said._

_The sound took Fakir by surprise and he slowly lowered his arm to see…Duck but it wasn't Duck. She was the girl that returned Lillie's ribs and Mytho's heart. She was taller than Duck and far more mature looking and she had long locks of red-orange hair instead of feathers. The light was radiating from her and she smiled kindly at the frightened knight._

_"Don't be afraid Fakir, you won't need to doubt yourself anymore. I am here to help you," she said and reached to touch his face._

_It was a warm feeling and it made Fakir relax just a little. Her eyes were just as big and blue as Duck's but they had a stronger look of elegance and knowledge. He let her touch him and just stared down at her._

_"Who…who are you?" he asked, his voice sounding softer than he ever thought possible._

_The girl giggled and she moved closer, "You don't need to worry about that right now. I'm here to help you."_

_"But…" she gently put her fingers over his lips and told him to shush._

_"You don't need to talk. I know what you feel and think, you don't need to tell me," she said and slowly let her hand drop to his chest right where his heart was. "You doubt yourself because you're afraid of hurting those you care about. I can take away that doubt, if you let me."_

_She looked up at him and he suddenly realized he'd heard her speak before. He heard her when Duck had leaned her head against his chest and said something similar. Was this girl…Duck? Was she the magic that let Duck return the missing objects? He had to know who she was but if she knew what he was thinking then how would he ever ask her before she stopped him?_

_"Please tell me, who are you?" he asked once again._

_"A very good friend," she said and stroked a loose strand of hair from his face. "Will you allow me to help you? That's all I want. I want to help you."_

_He couldn't say anything. He was sure this was Duck but if it was why did she look so different? He absently shook his head yes and she smiled warmly. She pressed her hand against his chest just a bit more and Fakir could feel a strange sensation overcome him. It was a warm feeling and he felt as if everything that was worrying him was sliding out of his chest. He looked down at the beautiful girl and she was holding a glowing orb of light in her hands._

_"Now you can choose your path without hesitation," she said and let the orb dissipate into the air._

_"Why do you want to help me so badly?" he asked only to get a warm smile from the girl._

_She stroked his face once more and looked into his eyes. He could have sworn he saw the answer in her eyes but it vanished from his mind before he could grasp it. _

_"Fakir…" she smiled and gently kissed him on the cheek._

Fakir bolted up in bed, unsure of what he just saw in his mind and almost automatically he touched his cheek with his hand. He looked around the room, thinking perhaps someone was in his room but all he saw was his dark empty room. He laid back down and stared at the ceiling.

What was that all about? Why did he dream of Duck being so…pretty? Was his imagination going a bit too far with what he's heard and seen? No, he definitely had nothing to do with his dream because he knew what he had to do. He had to try to fight the Raven. He had to at least make an attempt and he didn't feel so trapped by his doubt anymore.

Doubt? That was what the girl in his dream took. She set him free from his doubt. It was real. He had actually met that girl but why didn't she tell him who she was? Was she afraid of something or was she hiding something? He wanted to know who she was and why she wanted to help him so badly. If she was Duck he could always just ask her but…Duck didn't even realize this other girl speaks through her so she wouldn't be able to give him and answer.

Ugh! It was so annoying not knowing the answer and he placed his arm over his eyes as he slowly fell back to sleep. He had no idea that Duck had also had the same dream only she saw everything from the girl's perspective. She also woke up with a start and she was sitting, staring blankly at the opposite wall with a bit of fear in her eyes.

Was that really her or was that someone else? Should she ask Rue about it or was she just overreacting? Then she remembered Fakir in her dream. She remembered he looked frightened of her and amazed at the same time. She wondered if maybe he…no that was silly. Why would he have the same dream as her? People don't have identical dreams…do they?

She got up and opened her door to see the village dark. The only sounds were the crickets and the wind rustling the treetops and…the soft clanking of metal. Duck walked out to see where the sound was coming from and she noticed that there was a light on in Altor's temporary shack. She slowly opened the door to see him working on his new invention thing and she carefully walked up behind him, lightly tapping him on the shoulder.

"Ahhh!" he cried from surprise and turned around to see Duck looking at him biting her lip. "Oh, it's you. I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, I had a strange dream and I can't sleep," she said and looked at what he was working on. "What's that?"

"This?" he asked and looked at his invention too. "It's the beginnings of a hover board. What do you think? It's cool huh?"

"Um, what's it supposed to look like when it's finished?" she asked. She had no idea what she was looking at and she hoped that seeing what it's supposed to be would help her explain the strange sight.

"It's supposed to look like this," he said and handed her the blueprints. "You can't see the resemblance?"

"Uh, well…it looks mechanical. Does it work yet?" she asked.

"No, it's going to need a lot more work but that's why I'm working on it now because I just couldn't stay away from it for so long. I've also got Uzura to help me because she doesn't need to sleep so it should get finished a lot faster," he said excitedly. "Could go see what's taking her so long? I asked her to get some more metal from the junk pile like ten minutes ago and she's still not back."

"Okay, where's the junk pile?" Duck asked.

"It's on the other side of the library across the small field. It's hard to miss," he said then handed her a lantern. "Take this, you'll need it so you don't get lost."

"Thanks Altor. I'll find Uzura for you," she said and rushed out of the room.

He looked after her and grinned a little. He turned back to the board and muttered, "I can see why fakir likes her."

Duck turned the lantern on and slowly walked through the town so she didn't accidentally wake anyone up. She found the library, went behind it and crossed the small field where there was a large pile of scrap metal.

"What's all this metal here for? It doesn't look like the town uses it?" she asked herself and shrugged.

It wasn't her problem to worry about so she just started to walk through the junk yard looking for the little childbot.

"Uzura! Uzura, where are you?" she called softly.

She heard shuffling in the metal and rushed to find the source of the noise. She saw some scraps move and she quickly moved them to see the feet and green shorts of the childbot. She grabbed her feet and pulled her out of her rubbish, making her fall backwards.

"I found it, zura. Oh, it's you, zura," Uzura said from on top of Duck. "What do you think, zura?"

The childbot held up a large piece of copper and waved it around happily.

"Altor was worried about you. What took you so long?"

"I fell, zura. I got stuck, zura," she said and hopped off, banging her drum with the copper.

"Shush, we don't want to wake the town," Duck said and grabbed the metal. It nearly pulled her to the ground. "How…how can you carry this?"

"It's heavy, zura?"

"Yeah, it's like fifty pounds. How are you able to carry it so easily?" Duck asked as she struggled to hold the metal.

"I don't know, zura," she said then took the piece. "Come on, zura, let's show Altor!"

The childbot ran off with Duck chasing not far behind and they ran into Altor's little shack with Duck out of breath and Uzura still waving the piece of metal.

"You proud of me, zura? Look what I got, zura," she said and handed Altor the metal.

"Holy cow this is heavy. Good work Uzura," he said and patted the green haired kid on the head.

She looked over at Duck and asked, "You okay, zura? You don't look so good."

"I'm just a bit tired from running," she panted. "I'll be fine."

"You should go to bed Duck. You'll be exhausted tomorrow," Altor said without looking at her.

"Okay," Duck said and stopped. She thought for a second then asked, "Altor, what's with all the metal? The village doesn't look like it uses any metal here so why is there so much of it just lying around?"

"Huh? I…don't know. I guess I could ask Femio tomorrow but that is a really good question," he said thoughtfully and shrugged. "We can think about that later. Night Duck."

"Night Altor," she said and went to leave to suddenly get tackled by Uzura.

"NIGHT DUCK, ZURA!" she called happily.

"Uzura, not so loud," Altor said and dragged the childbot off of Duck. "Go on Duck. She shouldn't bother you anymore."

"Awe, bye bye, zura," Uzura waved sadly.

"I'll see you tomorrow Uzura. Night," Duck waved and finally left.

Altor placed Uzura back down and went back to his desk. Uzura just stared at the door and literally her gears were turning. She was thinking and she was trying to figure out what was bothering.

Altor could literally hear her thinking and he said, "Could you stop thinking so loud? It's distracting me."

"What?" she looked over at her creator and asked, "What does lovey-dovey mean, zura?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"A kid said Duck and Fakir were lovey-dovey, zura. What does it mean, zura?" she asked.

"Ha! That's funny. I'm not the only one huh?" Altor said and smiled down at the childbot. "Lovey-dovey means pretty much they love each other. They really really like each other and it's finally obvious to even the kids. He can't get out of it this time. He is so gonna get red, I can't wait."

Uzura looked at Altor in confusion. What was he talking about? He was going to get red? Was someone going to pour paint on him or something?

"You're weird, zura," she said.

"Yeah, well I made you so you're weird too," Altor shot back and went back to work, a slightly sinister grin on his face.


	24. Journey Up the Mountain

Yes! Another chapter! Finally! I know so many of you have been waiting ever so patiently for this and believe me, I didn't like leaving you hanging but now I'm back to try and finish this story before I die.

I've been thinking about it and what I want to happen so...it should go pretty fast if time is on my side (which it rarely is).

Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it...even though it might not be that great. I still need to get back in the swing of things. I've been away for quite some time so just bare with me.

* * *

Chapter 24

JOURNEY UP THE MOUNTAIN

The next day, Fakir went directly to talk with Charon about what needed to be done and to discuss the possibility of finding the missing pages to the book. Charon was a bit surprised by Fakir's sudden change of heart but he was glad that the boy had finally realized his potential and was taking action. For some reason Fakir seemed to be a bit oblivious to small things like the little childbot that was following him every now and then or that Rue seemed to be avoiding everyone, including Mytho, or how Altor and Femio hardly ever left the little shack that they were making the hover board in. He was too busy thinking about what he had to do and how to NOT get everyone killed at the same time. In fact, he was seriously contemplating leaving the group so he didn't put them in danger but one look at Duck and he knew he would never win the argument.

It was very soon (three days approximately) when they finally decided to go out and search for the pages. Charon said that a good possibility was that the thieves had sold them to the nearest town a bit further up the mountain and so he gave them a map to direct their search. He warned them about the large canyon they had to pass through in order to get to the town and made sure that everyone had enough rope in case someone fell.

Fakir scoffed at the idea of anyone falling but Duck was very grateful to the extra precaution and took the rope. Altor and Femio had packed up their work in some backpacks so they could work on it when they camped and as you could expect, Fakir was very annoyed. Rue wanted to stay at the village in case the Raven tried coming after her but Mytho's curiosity literally dragged her along. Mytho was very excited to go see the new sights but even with his over ecstatic personality everyone knew he was incomplete, mostly Duck and Rue. They could see he was still missing several pieces of his heart and it was only time before it would begin to take its toll on him.

They headed up the mountain with the extra warm clothes for the nights and the tools needed for the search and it wasn't anywhere near as easy as anyone expected. The terrain was ridiculously dangerous at some points then very easy to navigate at others. Fakir led the way and he was very determined to end this nightmare before it got any worse.

Rocks, trees, bushes and sheer drops made every mile very difficult. Duck scratched something at least every ten minutes and she quickly wore herself out. She wasn't used to anything like traveling but she did her very best to keep up and she never complained, not once.

Pique and Lillie on the other hand were continuously whining and making a fuss about some of the dumbest things such as accidentally tripping over a root and saying the root got in the way. They kept asking why they were looking for some stupid pages when they could just kill the Raven with like a sword or something and it was bugging everyone but most of all Fakir.

Finally they got to a spot to camp for the night when Fakir finally noticed that Duck was silent. She sat down next to Rue but she wasn't talking or asking a question or even looking at her. She was looking at the fire with her arms wrapped around her knees and her chin hiding behind her arms. He didn't understand what she was doing. Why did she look so serious about something?

He had no idea she was thinking about the strange dream she had a few nights ago and how much it bugged her not knowing what it meant. She wasn't sure how to take the dream and she was too scared to ask Fakir if he had any sort of dream similar to hers.

Every now and then she would look up at him and open her mouth as if she was about to speak but then would suddenly decide not to. He would have asked her about it but Altor and Femio were distracting him with the hover board and he had to deal with them constantly.

That night Fakir sat up as the others slept and watched the fire dim. He couldn't sleep for some reason. He had a bad feeling like they were being followed but no matter how many times he looked around or how hard he tried to listen there was never any sign of an intruder.

He sighed and poked at the fire. It was pointless to get so worked up over nothing but it was obvious he was beginning to get very paranoid and as the night dragged on he had to finally accept it. He looked at all the others as they slept and his eyes lingered on Duck.

She looked so peaceful, almost as if she had no worries in her life and he knew that she didn't deserve any of the problems she was going through. He wanted her to always be happy, but he didn't know if he could ever do that for her or if he even actually wanted to and he just pushed it out of his mind. It wasn't important. She was in just as much of a pickle as him so why did he feel like he wanted her to not feel the fear and pain that everyone else was feeling?

Oh, well. He finally fell asleep and before they knew it, it was morning. They headed onwards and within an hour or two they reached the canyon they had to travel through.

The canyon was definitely as dangerous as Charon had said and the group just stood there in awe as the sight of the enormous gorge filled their eyes. It was literally a huge crack in the earth that fell several thousand feet. Duck walked over to the edge and looked down. She almost fell from a few rocks that slid out from under her feet and if it hadn't been for Fakir's quick reflexes, she might have fallen to her death.

"Oops, sorry," she said sheepishly.

He just rolled his eyes and started towards the path that they had to take.

"Come on, we won't get anywhere if we keep looking like idiots," he said.

He slowly started over the path that was far too close to the canyon's mouth and he mumbled something about poor design. The others looked at each other and Altor shrugged and Mytho was too busy trying to take in every single detail of the quite colorful hole in the ground. Pique and Lillie looked at each other and grabbed each other's hands as they slowly followed Rue, who was silently scared, and Duck, who did her best to catch up with the knight.

He watched as she semi-skipped up to him and he grumbled.

"Would you at least try to act like you're being careful?" he asked grumpily.

"What's wrong? It's so pretty out here, don't you think?" she asked, happily looking at all the colors around her. "Why don't you ever take the time to appreciate these things?"

"We don't have the time. We need to get the pages so we can find out how to kill the Raven before the Final Countdown," he grumbled. "Don't you get it Duck? We only have a certain amount of time before he destroys the entire kingdom. If we don't finish him off in time you can say good bye to all 'these things'."

Duck's joy was suddenly smoldered by his words and she began to think again of the dream she had. He had been almost scared in it but he was also very worried. She felt it. She stole a glance at him and noticed the very serious expression he had on his face. He was determined to stop the Raven now. He wasn't letting the fear he had before stop him now.

She noticed this had started after her dream but even then, she couldn't find the courage to ask him about it. She knew that sooner or later he'd realize the fact himself and she felt a sudden rush of fear as she thought of how he might react. It made her hug her arms, even though it wasn't that cold up on the canyon top, and Fakir noticed this strange action.

"Duck? Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her a bit worried.

"Huh?" she snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him. She gave him a sheepish grin and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why…why do you ask?"

"You've been acting strange ever since we left the village…even before that," he deduced. "Something's bothering you."

"I guess I'm just nervous about this journey," she suggested.

"Right, and that's why you were completely awestruck when we reached the canyon," he scoffed.

"Well, it's not like I've ever been to a place like this before," Duck said. "You keep forgetting I grew up in a circus, not the country…or whatever."

"Duck, you've been very quiet recently and it's not like you," he said, keeping the conversation on track. "I know there's something going on so why won't you tell me?"

"Well…uh…" she was beginning to fret. She really didn't want to tell him just yet so she turned the question back to him. "What about you? You were too scared to do this before so why all of a sudden you want to do this so badly?"

"I've got my own damn reasons," he growled and turned away, dropping the subject.

Duck mentally sighed. She really didn't want to talk about her dream, it was still very daunting and it made her wonder if there were any side effects to her power. She could be going insane and it could be the fault of her powers, right? Eh, not likely.

They walked for a while, Altor and Femio talking about plans, Pique and Lillie gossiping about whatever grabbed their attention and Mytho kept asking Rue questions about the world around him. Duck thought it was funny how Mytho was now the one to ask questions and she giggled softly, grabbing Fakir's attention a little bit. He glance back at the brunette and white haired boy and if he could, he would have cracked a smile but…it was impossible. He mental cursed to himself for the stupid curse and glared at the dirt in front of him.

Soon they reached a resting place and Fakir brought out the map again. He looked at it then his surroundings, evaluating their position.

"So, if we add a double walled cooling chamber then we will be sure not to have any sort of explosive mishaps," Altor was explaining to his French partner. He was about to continue when he saw Fakir holding the map. "Hey, Fakir, are we lost?"

"No. I'm just making sure we're still heading in the right direction," he said without looking up. "If we cut through the canyon, we can cut the trip down by several hours. It seems there's a path that starts a few yards that way," he said, pointing a bit further up their current path. "If we head down now, it will get dark before we reach the bottom."

"And your point is?" Pique asked, overhearing the conversation.

"We'll have to leave early tomorrow morning so we can make the journey before nightfall," Fakir explained.

"Why before nightfall?" Femio asked.

"Have you tried walking down a six inch ledge in the dark?" Fakir asked rudely, folding up the map and glaring at the French man. "It's ridiculously dangerous and I'm sure you wouldn't want to die, would you?"

"Non, non. I want to live my life to zee fullest," Femio said, swinging his arm to encompass the surroundings as an example. "I have so much to look forward to. People to meet, places to see and women to love."

"Oh, god. Shut up," Fakir said. He rolled his eyes and pushed past the idiot to tell the others the plan.

"What eez heez problem?" Femio asked.

"He doesn't think love exists, which is funny seeing how he's very much in love," Altor snickered.

"He eez? Who?"

"You figure it out. It's not that hard," Altor grinned and went to unpack the hoover board.

"What a hint?" Pique whispered.

"Que?" he asked.

"He's in love with…a girl," Pique giggled and ran off before Femio figured it out.

"Zat is not nice!" he yelled, but grinned as he realized he walked into that one.

He walked over to Altor to help finish unpacking the pieces of metal they had brought and watched as the girls all seemed to be laughing at what had happened to Femio. However, when Duck heard the joke, she looked confused. Fakir was in love? He never seemed to have said anything and if he was, she would really like to meet the girl.

She was busy thinking about who the girl might be and when she realized the other girls were gone, she just shrugged and walked over to Fakir who was starting a fire. She watched patiently and even helped out a bit, handing him some of the sticks and branches that were nearby.

"Thanks," he said neutrally.

"No problem," she smiled and bounced on her heals. "Um, Pique and Lillie said you were in love and..."

Fakir nearly fell into the small fire from surprise and shock. He quickly turned around to see Duck looking at him confused.

"Are you okay?"

"Why…why would they say that?" he asked, his face becoming the slightest shape of pink.

"Well, Pique said she heard Altor telling Femio about it and…well, um, is there something wrong?" she asked, noticing the look of rage on his face.

"I'm going to kill Altor," he growled as he marched over to his brother.

"Wait, don't kill him, he was probably just…um, making a joke," she said, trying to stop him.

"He wasn't making a joke. He knew exactly what he was saying and now he's crossed the line," he said, pushing the bird-girl to the side.

She watched as Fakir grabbed the nerd by the shirt and started yelling at him. She started to get that feeling of fear again and she made herself look away. Fakir was really scary and unpredictable when he was mad and she just wanted to stay out of his way until he cooled down.

She walked toward a grouping of trees to find Rue but she was nowhere in the vicinity. Oh, well. She had been wanting to be alone for the past several days so instead, Duck looked for something to get her mind off of what was going on back at camp. She found a mound of ants and watched as they crawled around the ground, searching for food, and she smiled at how busy they were.

"Always working, huh?" she asked the tiny black bugs. "I guess it isn't easy being a bug. Never resting or stopping would drive me crazy." She smiled to herself and laughed softly when she saw a few ants break the line because of a leaf that had fallen. "Let me get that for you." She pulled the leaf away and the trail was started again.

She lay there, contently watching the busy ants for several minutes when for some reason she started to feel an urge to stand up. She allowed herself to stand and she looked around, almost as if she was looking for something but not quite sure what. Her feet began to move in the direction of a large tree that seemed rather out of place. She looked up at the tall evergreen and she was very much so amazed. She had never seen a tree that big before and the sheer height of such a massive tree made her wonder what other things she had missed in life.

She walked around the trunk, examining its strange texture and large roots with great awe. The trunk was enormous, possibly seven feet in diameter, and the tangled roots created small holes under the immense trunk that was big enough for a small child. Duck bent down to look in one of the openings when she saw a small glint of red. She reached her hand out and picked up another small red ruby. She looked at it for a few seconds before it began to glow brilliantly and she lifted her arms into the air so it could find its owner.

Once the light faded around her, she sank to her knees and shook away the slight dizziness she felt. She looked down at her hands and smiled. Was that another piece of Mytho's heart? Yes, it was. She could feel it and she rushed back to camp to tell the others.

When she came to the clearing by the canyon opening, she saw that everyone was bustling around Mytho who was smiling broadly. His eyes landed on Duck and he waved, making Duck smile. Fakir turned to see who Mytho was waving at and one eyebrow lifted.

He walked over to her and simply asked, "You found more of his heart?"

"Yep and I'm so happy too," she grinned.

"Where was it?"

"Under some really big tree," she said. "I was watching some ants when I had this weird feeling to go to the big tree and as I was looking at it I found it. You want to see the tree?"

She grabbed his wrist and began to pull into the trees.

"I guess I don't have an option," he mumbled.

She stopped in front of the giant tree and once Fakir found his footing, he stared up in awe. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. There was no way that tree was natural and he had took touch it to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"How…how is this possible?" he asked. "I've never known trees to grow this big. Are you sure there is nothing else here that has any sort of magic around it?"

"No. Why?"

"Isn't it strange how this is the only tree around here that is this big?" he asked skeptically. "Maybe there was a spell that was put on it or…some sort of accidental potion spill."

"Hey, Fakir, where did you…holy crap," Altor said as he saw the tree. "That thing's huge."

"That's what I was saying," Fakir said. "Do you know what could have caused this?"

"About fifty years of natural growth?" Altor said.

"Huh?" Duck asked, tilting her head.

"Well, this is a Redwood tree. They usually get this big after fifty or so years but…" Altor paused.

"Yes?" Fakir asked.

"It's just weird how there are no other Redwoods around, not to mention the weather here isn't what is needed for one of these giants to grow properly," Altor shrugged. "I guess it's just a freak of nature. Come on, Rue wants to know what feelings Mytho got back."

"Can't she just, oh, I don't know, ask him? Can't he explain what he's feeling now?" Fakir asked, annoyed.

"Well, just come back to camp. We're just about to cook something up for dinner and I kinda need some help with the hoover board." Altor then whispered to his brother. "Femio isn't really that good at mechanical engineering."

"Neither are you," Fakir added and put his hands in his pockets. "Come on Duck, let's head back. You should probably do something to comfort Rue. She's starting to become extremely pale from her paranoia."

"Okay, Fakir," Duck said happily and followed the two brothers back to camp.

As it turned out, the feelings Mytho got back were humor, fear and compassion. It seemed that each red jewel held at least three feelings and Altor figured that only two more might be needed to complete his heart. Now that half of his heart was back, it was obvious he wasn't immortal anymore and Fakir decided that before they turned in for the night, he'd give Mytho some pointers on sword fighting, just in case he needed to protect someone.

Duck still felt the feelings in her, mostly humor, and she couldn't stop smiling as she watched the two older boys swinging the rather deadly blades around and at each other. Fakir switched out his usual sword for a normal one because he didn't want to accidentally kill Mytho because his sword was protecting him.

Duck was sitting with Rue and it seemed the distraction was enough to keep her from worrying and soon she was laughing at Mytho's remarks as he defended himself against Fakir's blows. Duck also laughed and if Fakir could, he'd probably laugh too, but his serious face only made everyone laugh harder at Mytho's jokes.

Soon everyone decided to get some shut eye. Like every other night, Fakir sat up for nearly an hour longer than the others, waiting for the fire to die and making sure everything was still safe and secure, before finally falling asleep. Too bad he had no idea that the next night was going to have some pretty terrifying surprises. Better get a good night's sleep Fakir because tomorrow will be tough.


	25. Drosselmeyer's Back

Yeah, two chapters in one night. Whoo! I'm on a roll. So, here's more Duck and Fakir moments, as merwholock4ever wanted *cough cough my older sister cough cough*, I hope it's not too sappy or boring.

I kinda had this scene in my head for a while and I'm so glad I finally got it down on...my computer. (I was about to say paper. how dumb can I be?)

Hope you guys like it like the rest of my story. Can't wait to get out of tennis tomorrow so I can work on it so

Chapter 25

DROSSELMEYER'S BACK

"Herr Drosselmeyer," the King called through the empty throne room.

"You bellowed, sire?" Drosselmeyer asked, bowing deeply before the throne.

"I have found my daughter. She is near the Mountain Canyon and if what you have told me is accurate, then the Princess will also be there," the King said.

"May I ask as to how you found her, sire?"

"I have my ways," the King said, holding his hand out for a large black bird to perch. He ran his clawed fingers over the bird's head and said, "I want you to go to the canyon and bring me my daughter and the Princess."

"Yes, sire," Drosselmeyer grinned.

"Oh, and this time, don't fail me," the King sneered. "You made that mistake once, don't repeat it."

"I will bring the girls to you before you know it," Drosselmeyer said and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"You had better," the King snarled and summoned three more black birds. "Make sure he does his job. I want the Princess and my daughter. They will both pay for their insolence. Go! Bring them to me!"

The birds squawked as they leapt into the air and flew around the room, searching for an open window. The King sat back down on his throne, and evil smile spreading along his thin lips.

"Soon, I shall get my long awaited revenge."

The group made their way down the thin path that hugged the walls of the canyon and after about two feet, everyone understood why Charon said it was so dangerous. Not only was the ledge barely five inches wide, but also random pieces of the ledge would fall out from under their feet. The rock and dirt had been severely corroded over time and they all had to move at a snail's pace.

Like usual, Fakir led the way, Duck was right behind him, Altor behind her and so on and it was up to Fakir to find the safest way down. It was a bit more difficult to find a route that was easiest for the girls but somehow Fakir was able to do a pretty good job at it.

It was about an hour down the trail when a group of large crows appeared overhead, circling the opening of the canyon and cawing loudly. Everyone looked up to see the birds and Rue was so surprised and scared that she nearly let go of the wall.

"Rue, are you okay?" Mytho asked, holding her shoulder so she didn't lose her balance.

"It's my father. He's found me," she whispered. "He's coming to get me. I knew I shouldn't have come."

"They're just birds," Altor said cynically.

"No, they're spies for my father. He's sent them to find me," she said, her voice beginning to shake.

"We aren't going to let him take you," Fakir said. "Come on, let's keep moving. There seems to be a cave up a head. Maybe we can hide there for a while."

"I could just teleport us out of here," pique suggested.

"NO!" everyone, except for Lillie, cried.

"You haven't gotten your elegance back," Lillie giggled. "You're useless."

"Remind me why I hang out with you again?" Pique asked, wanting to cross her arms and pout but remembering to keep hold of the wall.

"We can worry about stupid trifles like that later. Let's just get to that cave," Fakir said, looking up quickly at the circling birds.

They went as fast as they dared to get to the cave and as they scooted along, the birds began to get lower, circling like a vulture about to eat a dead carcass. Rue was so nervous she could barely keep herself steady and Mytho and Femio had to keep her from falling.

Duck was worried about Rue. She had never seen her friend get so scared. It was Duck's just to be petrified, not Rue's, and she wondered if there was any way she could help. She looked up at the birds, studying them for a short time, when an image of very similar birds attacking people flashed through her mind.

She called out, grabbed her head and closed her eyes. The next thing she knew, she was being pulled down by the _amazing_ force of gravity. She still didn't dare to open her eyes as she heard Fakir cry out her name in a frantic voice and she felt several of the black birds' sharp talons and beaks pierce her skin.

There was no way in hell she was going to open her eyes. She was too scared and she listened to the wind rush past her ears, waiting for her body to hit the hard rock floor of the canyon. However, (we all knew this was coming) after who knows how long, the sound of wind was replaced by what sounded like an engine.

She must have been hearing things, but no sooner had she heard the engine, she felt her body stop falling as two familiar arms wrapped around her waist. She opened her eyes slightly to see Fakir had grabbed her and was standing on the strange contraption Altor had made.

She turned her head a bit to see where they were going when a bird decided to go kamikaze and nearly hit her in the face.

"AHH!" She cried and hid her face in Fakir's shoulder.

He had quickly pulled out his sword with one hand and blocked the oncoming bird only to get more dive-bombing birds come in from the side. He steered the hoover board away from them but they still followed.

He looked around for some means of getting away when an idea popped into his head.

"Hold on," he said to Duck.

He didn't really need to tell her because she was already holding onto his coat for dear life and when he suddenly cut the power and they plummeted down, she let out a frightened scream. What the hell was Fakir doing? She watched as the ground drew closer each second and she just hoped that Fakir knew what he was doing.

He did know what he was doing. His plan was to get as close to the ground as possible then pull up quickly, causing the birds to kill themselves. He just hoped it would work. Birds were built to fly and Fakir had only just gotten onto the hoover-board. Good thing he was a fast learner.

The ground was about four feet below and Fakir timed his ascent so perfectly that all the birds weren't able to stop or turn in time, causing them to all go splat (sort of like in the movie The Birds).

Duck's eyes were closed once again and she didn't dare to open them again. Maybe that was a good thing because as Fakir tried go back up the side of the canyon, the engine began to sputter.

He looked down at it and grumbled, "Damn it."

He looked around for some place to land before crashing to the ground when he found a ledge not too high above their present position. He angled the board up and headed to the ledge, hoping the hunk of junk wouldn't completely fail before then. They were almost there when it let out one last spurt of speed, causing the front of the board to hit the bottom of the ledge and send the two passengers flying into the air.

Fakir didn't let go of Duck until they hit the ground and they both rolled until they ran into one of the rock walls. Fakir had hit his back on a rock and he groaned in pain, rolling onto his hands and knees to get Duck. She was curled up in a fetal position, her hands over her face, and she was shaking like a leave. He slowly, and painfully, walked over to the bird-girl and helped her to a sitting position.

"You okay, Duck?" he asked.

She only whimpered in response.

"Duck, are you okay?" he asked again, shaking her shoulders a bit.

"N…not really," she stuttered softly.

"It's okay, we're safe, you can open your eyes now," he said, his hand on his back.

"No. I…I'm too s…scared."

"Come on. You've been through worse," he said, exasperated. When she still didn't lower her hands he grabbed them and pulled them away from her face. "You've got to stop this, Duck. I know you were scared but you're perfectly fine now."

She looked up at him nervously and bit her lip.

"Fakir, d…did you know what…what you were doing?" she whispered.

"Of course I did. You know me better than that," he sighed, letting go of her hands. He got up slowly and went to the edge of the ledge (ha ha) to get the hoover board that had embedded itself into the rock. "It seems this thing only works for short spurts. When will Altor actually figure out how to make these things work correctly?"

He looked back at Duck who was silently holding herself protectively and looking at the ground. He rolled his eyes and sighed, walking back over to the girl and sitting next to her.

"Duck, I'm afraid we might be stuck here until I can find some way to fix this," he said, standing the board on its tail. From end to end it was about four feet long but it was able to fold in half for travel and Fakir was beginning to think maybe he should have helped Altor and Femio with it. He cringed as a sudden jolt of pain shot up his back and he put his hand on his back. "Damn it, this is going to complicate things."

"Huh?" Duck asked, slowly looking over at her comrade.

"I seemed to have hurt my back when we landed but it's nothing," he grunted. "It shouldn't be too much trouble, maybe a bruise at the most."

"Oh," she said and put her chin on her folded arms. They sat, silently thinking when Duck suddenly decided to say something. "Fakir, do you remember before we left, after I found the first part of Mytho's heart?"

"Depends. What day are you talking about?"

"Um, the night after I first returned his heart," she whispered, not looking at him.

His eyes widened slightly.

"Uh…yeah. What about it?"

"I had this strange dream," she continued.

Now he was surprised. That was the same night he had his strange dream. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, searching for some sort of tell-tale sign of where her conversation was going but not finding any.

"I…I was in this forest with a really pretty white dress on and…you were running from me for some reason," she said, her finger now tracing lines in the rock by her feet.

Fakir's heart started beating faster. It was her. He knew it. But…why did it take her so long to finally tell him?

"You seemed to be scared of me but…not completely and I…took some sort of light from your chest," she paused and looked up at him. "I said it was your doubt. What did I mean? I…I don't understand."

He looked at her for a few seconds before answering.

"I think…I think the same magic that allows you to return the taken objects also allowed you to…uh, take…things too," he said hesitantly. "I also think it turns you into someone else as you use that magic. It seems that way whenever you use your magic so it makes sense."

"But…I've only used it to return things," she said.

"Actually…you seem to be able to…hear what someone's…heart is saying," he said, a light pink blush forming on his cheeks. "I have been on the receiving end of it and it's…a bit confusing. It's almost like Rue's flash forwards."

"What else have I done that I don't know about?" she asked.

"That's all I know about but…oh, wait. Remember back at the circus when we were all locked in that lion cage?" he asked. She shook her head yes. "When he had chained me, he put magic around it so I wouldn't be able to get away but after you touched the chains…I was able to escape. Maybe that's another one of your powers."

"Oh," she said and thought about it. She watched as Fakir grabbed the hoover board to examine it when a strange question popped into her head. "Fakir, did you already know what had happened in my dream?"

He stopped what he was doing and looked over at her. He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath before answering.

"Yes. I knew what you were talking about because I had the same dream," he said.

She gasped softly. She wasn't expecting that.

"But…I didn't think two people could have the same dream," she said. "How is that possible?"

"I have no idea," he looked out over the ledge to see the shadows of the canyon get darker and he realized that in the canyon, it would get darker and cold far faster than on the top.

He got up and looked around for any sort of plant he could use to get a fire started. He spotted a small tree that poked out of the side of the wall from a crack and he grabbed several of the dead branches. He was about to grab more when he felt Duck come up behind him and take the branches from his arms.

She quietly put them in a pile closer to the wall and smiled weakly when she saw Fakir watching her. At that point, he really wished he could give her a reassuring smile, but instead he sighed to himself and grabbed the rest of the dead branches.

He walked back over and added his branches to the existing pile. They waited for a while until it got dark enough to actually start the fire, having pointless conversations, and once the sun finally disappear, the wind picked up and Duck began to shiver. Fakir got the fire started and before Duck could say thank you, he silently took off his coat and gave it to her.

"Thanks," she whispered, pulling the thick cloth further over her shoulders.

He just nodded. They were both exhausted and it was very soon that Duck fell asleep. Fakir sat there, thinking and letting the flames hypnotize him. He had no idea how he was going to fix the hoover board or where the others were. He hoped that that hadn't gotten attacked or hurt and he started thinking of the worst case scenario; they were all dead.

He shook that thought of his head and decided to let his mind wander so he could keep his sanity in check. It was tough but soon his eyes closed and he drifted into a light sleep.

By now, Duck had been asleep for nearly two hours and she was beginning to dream…but she didn't know that.

_Duck woke up to find Fakir sitting against the large bolder, poking at the fire with a stick, and she yawned. He looked up at her and acknowledged her consciousness by lifting his head quickly. She smiled at him and was about to say hi when the world outside the ledge turned completely black._

_Both of them jumped to their feet, surprised, and Fakir went to check out what was going on. He went to the ledge to find nothing everywhere._

_"I don't see anything," he said to her. She was about to walk up to him when he put his hand up. "Maybe you should stay th…ah!"_

_Duck cried out as she watched him fall of the edge. She rushed over to see him dangling there, trying to pull himself back up._

_"Fakir!" she cried, wanting to help him but finding it nearly impossible to move._

_"Move away! Get away from the edge," he struggled to say. _

_Her feet complied even though her mind wanted to help him back up. She watched from the stone wall as he struggled to get back onto the ledge but the blackness just encompassed him and he disappeared, making Duck scream in fear._

_She wanted to cry but no tears would form. She wanted to run but her feet wouldn't move. She heard laughter and her heart stopped. She knew that laughter. It was the same laughter as the man that had tortured her for nine years. Drosselmeyer. She frantically looked around for the source but the source decided to save her the effort and show up right in front of her._

_There he was, Drosselmeyer, the horrible ringmaster that found joy in hurting innocent little Duck. Took a step back, against the wall, and gasped. He was even scarier than she remembered and far more threatening._

_He stepped closer, cackling, "So, it seems I have finally found you, little Duck. Oh, and you're all alone and unprotected. How sad. Just what I've been waiting for."_

_"Leave me alone!" Duck cried._

_"I can't do that for you see, you belong to me. I have a contract that says you are mine," he said, reaching his hand out and forming a fist._

_"I…I'm not your p…property," she stuttered._

_"Still scared of everything, aren't you?" he laughed. "Just as I planned. You will come with me and there is nothing you can do about it."_

_"No!" she yelled, tears falling down her cheeks._

_"You have no choice," he growled, almost smacking her. "You belong to me."_

_She was about to say something else when an arm wrapped around her waist. She looked down in surprise. Sure enough there was an arm but…there was no way anyone could be behind her because she was pressed against the stone wall. It didn't seem to matter however, as another arm appeared and wrapped around her waist._

_"What? What's going on?" Drosselmeyer asked angrily._

_"I…I don't know," Duck sobbed._

_The arms pulled her back against the wall. She thought they were trying to kill her but instead of feeling crushed, she felt her body slip through the stone. She watched as Drosselmeyer tried to grab her but she disappeared into a world of blackness before he touched her. She felt herself floating with the arms still tightly holding her._

_She felt scared but relaxed. She closed her eyes as she tumbled through the nothingness and she felt one arm move to her shoulder, holding her back up. Soon she felt hard ground beneath her body and a torso attach to the arms then legs and finally a head._

_"Duck," a fuzzy voice said to her._

_She didn't respond._

_"Duck, are you okay?" the voice said again, a little stronger._

_Still she didn't respond._

_"Duck, wake up!"_

Duck's eyes flew open to find herself being held in Fakir's arms once again. He was looking down at her worriedly and confused.

"Duck, what happened? Are you okay?" he asked. "You must have one helluva nightmare. You started screaming and like tossing and turning and…crying. What happened?"

She was breathing heavy and as she rubbed her eyes she felt her cheeks were wet. She was also involuntarily shaking in his arms and rather instinctively, he held her closer.

"I…I had a dream about…Dro…Drosselmeyer," she stammered.

"Drosselmeyer? But we haven't seen him in weeks," he said.

"I know but…he…made you fall from the ledge and…and…I thought you were killed," she said and wrapped her arms around his neck, hiding her face again. "I was so scared. I don't want to lose you Fakir. You're my best friend."

"Wh…what?" he asked. "I thought Rue was…your best friend."

"Mmm," she mumbled into his shoulder.

He was very stunned. He wasn't expecting Duck to say that and he also wasn't expecting the looming figure of Drosselmeyer to suddenly appear at the lip of the ledge, chuckling evilly.

"Well, isn't this sweet? It seems you've finally found a friend, little Duck," he laughed. "Too bad he's going to die soon."

me more. Man, I've got so much more to do before this is done. I had better get cracking.


	26. True Friendship

Hey readers, I know this chapter is short but...I didn't really know what else to do with it. Anyway, I hope y'alls like it, even if it is a bit cutsie.

More excitement is on the way so...HORRAY! XD

* * *

Chapter 26

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

Fakir and Duck looked up at the old crone with a mixture of surprise, fear and hate. Fakir glared at the man while Duck started to shake again. The old man smiled at their reactions and took a step forward, chuckling.

"Isn't this one of the cutest scenes I've ever seen? It seems someone actually cares for you Fakir," Drosselmeyer said, circling the dying fire. "It seems that maybe you didn't need this after all."

The man held out an intricately decorated sheath from his red cape and Duck's body went ridged.

Fakir looked down at her and said, "Duck, what are you doing? Are you okay?" When she didn't answer, he turned his attention back to the ringmaster. "What have you done to her?"

"I have done nothing," he laughed. "I guess she knows what this is. How about you, boy? Do you know what this is?"

"Do I care?" Fakir snarled.

"You should."

"Fakir…" Duck's soft voice caught Fakir's attention. "The sheath, it…it's yours."

Fakir's jaw dropped. He looked back at Drosselmeyer whose grin seemed to get even wider. The sheath was his taken object? But…how did a sheath represent a…smile?

"Are…are you sure?" Fakir asked, still stunned.

"Does she look like she's kidding?" Drosselmeyer laughed. "Let her come get it. It should be interesting to see, Fakir, don't you think?"

"Shut up! You're trying to trap her," Fakir yelled. "I'm not stupid. Once she gets close enough you're going to grab her and take her to the Raven. I saw you standing with that bastard and I won't let you hurt Duck anymore."

"I don't think you can stop her."

Fakir looked down at Duck who was now forcing herself from his arms. He tried to keep his hold but the mysterious magic pushed him away. He watched helplessly as she walked toward the awaiting ringmaster, knowing he would never be able to keep her from going after the sheath.

Wait. Maybe he didn't need to keep her from the sheath, maybe he just needed to keep the sheath from her. If he could get the casing out of Drosselmeyer's hands and far enough from Duck, then he could fight off Drosselmeyer with his sword.

He didn't have much time to think of how he would do that. Duck was just a few feet from the old man and he was holding it out for her. Fakir's mind raced. He scrambled to his feet, acting like he was heading towards Duck to stop her.

"You know you can't interfere. She already has her mission in mind and you won't even be able to touch her," Drosselmeyer instigated.

"Who ever said I was aiming for Duck?" Fakir said and grabbed the sheath suddenly.

"What!?" Drosselmeyer cried angrily.

Fakir had raced for the sheath too fast and he went flying to the ledge, just like the sheath, and it fell off the edge. He was able to stop just before falling and he watched the sheath splash into the river that was quite a ways down.

Duck's trance was broken and she stopped moving. She looked around to see Fakir just inches from the edge and Drosselmeyer turning red from anger. She was about to help Fakir up when Drosselmeyer lifted his hand and magic pushed the girl against the wall.

"Fakir! Look out!" she cried as the old man headed for the boy.

Fakir looked back to see Duck crumbled on the floor from the impact and Drosselmeyer with murder in his eyes.

"You have made a big mistake, boy," he growled. "Now you will pay."

Drosselmeyer lifted his hand and Fakir felt himself get raised into the air.

"What? Let me down!" Fakir yelled.

"Fakir!" Duck cried.

She was about to race after him when Fakir said, "No! Don't get any closer, Duck!"

She watched as Drosselmeyer used his torture spell on him and she wanted to cry as she heard him yell out in pain, but she bit her lip, hoping Fakir would find some way out of it.

Unfortunately he didn't and Drosselmeyer tossed him off the edge of the cliff.

"NOOO!" Duck screamed.

It was just like her dream. Fakir fell off the cliff and Drosselmeyer was behind it all. She wanted to see if maybe he grabbed the ledge but Drosselmeyer grabbed her by the arms.

"Now, I can finish my job," he sneered. "You won't be any trouble, will you?"

Duck was sobbing and staring at the cliff. She didn't even feel herself getting picked up or hear the words Drosselmeyer had just said. She just wished Fakir would suddenly climb back over the cliff. Seconds ticked by, feeling like hours, and when she didn't see him she nearly gave up, becoming limp in Drosselmeyer's grip.

"That's more like it," he laughed. "You always were too weak to do anything anyway. It's about time you realized that."

Drosselmeyer's words hit a nerve. He was right. She was too scared all the time and she never believed she could do anything but now…now it was up to her to save Fakir. No one else was going to do it and she just had to prove this horrid man wrong.

She lifted her head and looked right at Drosselmeyer's face. She raised her arms and pushed against his chest, somehow making him drop her in pain.

He grasped his chest and stumbled backwards, saying, "How…how did you do that? You have no magic like that."

"I do now," she said certainly as she walked to the ledge.

She looked down at the river far below and took a deep breath.

"What are you doing, you stupid girl? You can't save him," he snickered but one quick glance from Duck made him shut up.

She took a few steps back and jumped, her arms spread out like a bird. She wasn't scared this time for some reason. It must have been her new sense of purpose and she waited for her body to hit the water. She closed her eyes and put her hands in front of her head to break the impact, curling into a ball as the cold water engulfed her.

She raced to the surface of the rushing water to get air and to see if she could find Fakir. She swam with the current for a while until she saw Fakir trying hard to keep hold of a fallen tree but he looked extremely weak. She made herself go faster but before she could reach him he slipped into the water, sinking slightly then bobbing for a few seconds.

"Fakir!" she called, hoping he would hear her but it didn't seem to work.

He sank back under the water and this time he didn't come back up. She dove under the surface to find him unconsciously being pulled and swirled by the current. Being part duck had its benefits at a moment like this. She could hold her breath for far longer than normal and she was able to slice through the water quickly, making it so much easier to reach her injured friend.

She grabbed him from behind and pulled him to the surface with a bit of difficulty. She looked around for something to grab onto when she saw an area of sand under some small saplings. She pulled Fakir over to the shore and dragged him onto the dry land. It was only after she nearly collapsed on top of him that she noticed he had hit his head and was bleeding just over his right temple.

She frantically looked around for something to use and when there was nothing there, she just ripped off a bit from her skirt. As she dabbed his injury she softly began to hum.

"I'm alone in the universe.

So alone in the universe.

My own planets and stars are glowing.

No one notices anything,

Not one person is listening.

They don't have any way of knowing

That I have wings,

Yes, I can fly

Around the moon

And far beyond the sky.

Just call my name

And you'll set me free.

One small voice in the universe,

One true friend in the universe

Who believes in me."

When she finished she thought about the words. It started off sad then it became almost…hopeful. Why was it that she couldn't remember the words earlier? Was there something that had made her incapable of singing the entire thing?

She then looked down at Fakir. Maybe he had something to do with it. Once she met him, she slowly began to remember the words and it definitely made more sense now with the ending with it.

That's exactly how she felt at the circus, lonely, but now she had true friends, friends that understood her and wanted to help her and Fakir…even though he's usually mean and mad all the time, he does seem to believe in Duck.

She smiled at her friend, her best friend. He had changed her life from the moment she met him. He spoke to her like a normal person and he told her things she never would have dreamed could be true. He was smart and deep down inside she knew he was kind.

That's what she liked most about their friendship. She liked trying to find the real Fakir, the Fakir that didn't hide behind frowns and anger. The Fakir that had danced with her and held her as she cried. A caring Fakir, that's who she saw deep inside, but he kept locking that part of himself away and she just wanted, more than anything, to help him find true happiness.

She moved a stray stand of hair from his face as she continued to make the bleeding on his head stop and suddenly hugged him around the neck. She smiled broadly, even though he was still asleep, and giggled softly.

"Thank you so much for being my friend," she whispered. "I don't know what I'd do without you."


	27. Cottage on the River

Wasup readers? So, unlike the last chapter, this one is freaking long. I counted how many pages it took up on Word and it was almost 14. Jeez, that is just ridiculous for me.

Anyway, this is mostly just filler but it does have some...interesting moments and stuff.

(By the way, author2be3, you are totally right. If I was reading the last chapter like you were, I totally would have had the same thoughts.)

Enjoy. :) Tee hee.

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Chapter 27

COTTAGE ON THE RIVER

Once Duck had jumped off the cliff, Drosselmeyer stood on the ledge dumbstruck. He had no idea what the girl had just done or how or why and he was very much stunned. He was still in pain a bit but it didn't seem to affect him that much. He was going to die. The Raven was going to kill him because he failed in bringing back the Princess and the old man knew it.

He slowly turned from the edge to move back to the wall when he saw the hoover board. He picked it up, interested in the strange object, and examined it. It looked thrown together but functional, small but sturdy and even ingeniously designed. If he could find out who made it then perhaps the Raven would give him one more chance.

The old man grinned at the thought of getting one more chance to get revenge on those blasted kids and he tossed his hands in the air to vanish in a cloud of smoke. He appeared back at the King's palace, holding the board, and he walked right up to the King who sat threateningly on his throne.

"My King…" Drosselmeyer bowed.

"You didn't bring me back the girl! You have failed me for the last time!" the Raven hollered, shaking the room.

"Sire, the girl jumped from a cliff to save that stupid boy Fakir. I almost had her, sire, I swear but she had a trick up her sleeve," the old man groveled. "I think that perhaps her memory might be coming back."

"And you expect a plea like that to save your life?" the Raven bellowed. "Guards! Take him to…"

"Wait! I have brought you something."

Drosselmeyer showed the King the board with a deep bow. The King looked at it with peaked interest and dismissed the guards that had shown up.

"What is it?"

"I believe it is a traveling contraption, sire," Drosselmeyer explained. "It seemed to have been the way the two kids got onto the ledge I found them on."

"You mean the ledge _I _found them on!"

"Yes, that's what I meant, sire. It seems built to fly. Perhaps we could use it against them," Drosselmeyer suggested.

"If you can get it to work then…I might spare your life. You may have one more use for me but if you screw this up again I will not hesitate to execute you myself," the Raven sneered.

"I understand, sire." Drosselmeyer paused for a second then suggested, "Maybe if we find the creator of this machine we can get him to build hundreds more for us. Would you like me to do that, sire?"

"Fine. It should be easier to do than finding a lost Princess," the Raven snapped. "Besides, my pets can find them easily without your help. As you can see…" the King turned toward a door that opened, "…they have already brought my daughter."

Rue was dragged into the room by two guards and thrown to her knees before the throne. She looked up at the King with resentment and the King just smiled.

"Hello, Kraehe," he said.

"I am not Kraehe! I'm Rue!" she yelled, quickly standing up and taking several steps from her father.

"You still have the fiery spirit of the Raven," the King snickered. "You can't fight destiny, dear. You know what is to be so you know what you must do, there's nothing you can do to change it. You friends will die and the last member of the Royal family will be mine to do with as I please." Rue gasped and felt herself grow weak. "Be glad you are on the winning side, my daughter," he said, standing and holding her chin in his hand, "when this is all over you will be able to get whatever you want."

"No! I don't want any of your empty promises!" Rue yelled, pushing away and trying to run from the room.

"Stop her," the Raven said calmly.

The guards at the door made an 'X' with their large staffs, making the girl stop, and they pushed her back to her father unwillingly. Once she was close enough, the Raven grabbed her arm and pulled her closer.

"Now listen, you will do as I say or everything will turn out even worse for you. Not only will your friends die but I will make you be their executioner," he laughed when Rue looked away with a pained look on her face. The Raven grinned and pushed her back into the clutches of the guards. "Take her to her room and give her something a bit more…suitable to wear. We want a good impression when her friends show up."

"Yes sire," the guard said and dragged a broken Rue out of the throne room.

The Raven turned back to Drosselmeyer, who was watching with glee as Rue got yelled at. He never did like the girl and now he was happy she finally had nothing she could do.

"You!" Drosselmeyer jumped. "Go find the inventor of that device. Now, before I change my mind and kill you!"

"Yes, sire."

Drosselmeyer vanished in a puff of smoke and the King went to sit back down in his throne, plopping down with a sigh. One of the many black crows that were perched throughout the room flew down to the armrest and squawked. The King grinned at the bird and ran a finger down its back thoughtfully.

"I think the little Princess will be a bit more of a hassle than we had anticipated," he chuckled softly. "We must get that boy out of the way but…I need to know his weakness first. I want you to go keep an eye on those two, find any sort of flaws in his abilities and report back to me." The bird cawed once again. "Go, do your job."

The bird flew off and out the window with a grinning King sitting on the throne.

"Soon, Princess, you won't have your protection and you will be mine."

Duck had somehow fallen asleep right next to Fakir on the sand and her head was resting on his shoulder. He slowly woke up first and felt the soft fabric of her dress on his forehead. He lifted his hand slowly and groaned as he realized his head was still throbbing. He was going to sit up when he noticed Duck was laying on his shoulder, but even though he didn't make any more movements, she still woke up, smiling slightly to see her friend was okay.

"Hi, Fakir. Do you feel okay?" she asked groggily.

"How did I get here?" he asked.

"You were tossed from the ledge by Drosselmeyer and fell into the river. Don't you remember?" she asked, sitting up and yawning.

"I remember almost drowning but…not much more than that," Fakir said and groaned as he too sat up. "Damn, I really hit my head hard. It still hurts."

"Well, of course it does silly," Duck giggled a bit. "You _were_ bleeding."

He looked over at her in a confused manner while holding his head.

"What are you talking about? Are you feeling okay because the last time I checked, I don't think pain was a laughing matter," he said and flinched.

"Oh, careful. Maybe you should just lie down until it stops hurting," Duck said, reaching for his head but not touching him.

"If I did that every time I got hurt I would never go anywhere," he said and stood up, faltering a bit from a sudden dizzy spell. "Whoa."

"Ooh, careful. Just take it slow," she said, quickly standing to help balance him. "So, any ideas on how we're going to get out of here?"

"I don't know. I'm still trying to figure out where here is," he said, looking around.

"We're somewhere down river," she said.

"Yeah, at the bottom of a huge canyon. I don't think we're going to find any easy way out of here," he said, still looking around. "I wonder…maybe there's something up the river a ways. I mean, even if there isn't it wouldn't be any worse than here, right?"

He looked back at Duck and she just shrugged.

"I just wish I hadn't forgotten about the hoover thingy. You might have been able to fix it and we could have gotten out of here," Duck said.

"You mean the hoover board?" Fakir asked. Duck shook her head yes and yawned again. "Great. If we ever meet back up with the others, Altor is going to bite my head off for losing that thing. Oh, well, nothing we can do about it now. Come on, let's go see if there's anything down this way."

"Okay," she said and rushed to walk next to him.

Every now and then, Fakir would have to stop due to a sudden dizzy spell but it never kept him from moving forward. Duck, on the other hand, found it really hard to keep moving. The terrain beside the river bed kept changing from sand to rocks to pebbles to steep cliffs and then back to sand. She didn't understand how Fakir was able to keep going with a head injury but like he said, if he waited for the pain to go away completely, he'd never go anywhere.

Even though the trek was difficult, Duck made it more of a game. She would try to spot different plants, rock colors, fish and even bugs. Fakir helped out every now and then, pointing out a bug or maybe a small animal that Duck hadn't seen and he was pretty glad it kept her occupied.

It wasn't long before they both started to get really hungry but still, Fakir didn't stop. He didn't want to be stuck in the canyon anymore and he just wanted to find some way out before another incident happened.

Duck would have liked to try and stay strong with him but her hunger got the better of her and she had to stop.

"Fakir, I'm getting really hungry," she said holding her stomach. "I haven't eaten since yesterday morning."

"I know. I'm hungry too but we can't stop. We need to get back with the others as quickly as possible. Hopefully they're all still in one piece," Fakir said, stopping and looking back at her.

Duck cringed at the thought of any of her friends in more than one piece and Fakir just rolled his eyes.

"Come on. How about we walk for just ten more minutes and if we still don't find some way out then we can try to find something to eat, okay?" he asked.

She bit her lip and slowly nodded yes.

"Come on, I'll walk a bit slower so you have an easier time keeping up," he said and waited for her to get next to him again. "Just don't think about it. I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Okay," she said softly.

They started off again and before either of them knew it, ten minutes was up. Duck plopped down on a rock, holding her stomach and looked up at Fakir that was still looking around, hoping to spot something useful. When he didn't see anything, he sighed and sat next to the bird-girl.

"I was hoping there was something around here that could help us out of this hole but…nothing," he said and looked at Duck. "Sorry. This has all been a big waste of time, huh?"

"No, I'm just hungry," she said and grinned sheepishly.

"I know how you feel," he said and looked up. "I guess we could try to catch some fish."

"Sounds like a plan to me," she smiled and walked over to the river. "It's calm here so it should be pretty easy to catch fish, right?"

"I wouldn't really know," he said, walking up next to her. "I'm not really a fisherman but it doesn't mean we can't try."

"Yep," she said and got ready to jump into the water but was pulled back by Fakir.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to get fish."

"You don't swim after them, moron. You'll never catch them that way," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, what do you do?" she asked curiously.

"You use a…"

They both stopped when they heard a voice humming a random tune. They looked up the river and saw a large man rowing a boat with what looked like a box full of fish. He was just minding his own business when he saw the two kids staring at him in confusion.

"Oh, hello there," he said, waving to the kids.

"Uh, hi," Fakir said uncertainly.

"Hi!" Duck said happily and waved to the man.

"What are you two doing down here? I didn't think anyone else lived down here," he said as he pulled up where they were standing.

"We don't live down here," Fakir said. "We're, um…passing through and we just…"

"We're lost. Could you help us get out of here?" Duck interrupted.

"Lost? How long have you kids been stuck out here?"

"About two days," Fakir said flatly.

"My goodness. That's not very good," he said. "By the way, my name is Paulo. I live down river with my wife, Palimony. If you two would like, you can come to my house for lunch and I could show you the way up the canyon."

"Oh, yes please. We're so hungry and we need to find our friends before they turn into more than one piece and…" Fakir stopped Duck's ramble by putting his hand over her mouth.

"It's very kind of you, sir, and we would be very grateful for your help," he said calmly and let go of Duck's face.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked.

"I'll explain later," he mumbled.

"Well, hop in," Paulo said. "I've got room."

"Thank you," Duck said and scrambled into the boat.

Fakir followed and soon they were moving smoothly down the river, having a small conversation.

"So, when I went to go back for the fish, I thought a coyote had already taken them," Paulo laughed. "I went back home to find my wife was the one that took them, not the coyote. It was one of the strangest mishaps I had ever found. Anyway, what are your names?"

"I'm Duck and he's Fakir," Duck said happily. She then leaned in a bit toward Paulo and whispered, "He's a grump most of the time but he's actually really nice."

"Duck…" Fakir groaned but stopped before he said something he'd regret.

"See, a grump," she giggled and Paulo laughed with her.

"Come on, Fakir. Why so glum? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"No. I woke up with a head injury and soaking wet," Fakir stated.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize that," Paulo said then finally understood why the boy had a piece of cloth wrapped around his head. They rowed for a few more minutes, Duck and Paulo having nonsensical conversation, when a small cottage could be seen around the bend. "Ah, home sweet home. It's not very big or fancy but it's nice. Oh, look, there's Palimony, she's out hanging up the wash. Palimony! I'm home!" He hollered out over the water.

The woman turned and waved at the boat. She put the woven basket down and headed for the small dock, waiting for her husband to reach it. She was a pretty lady with short brown hair that curled out a bit and very friendly eyes. She smiled at the passengers in the boat and wrapped the rope Paulo had thrown to her around the post that was nearby.

"If it isn't my wonderful wife," Paulo grinned with his arms out stretched. "I've brought us some company for lunch, dear."

"I see that," she smiled and helped Duck out of the boat. "What's your name, young lady?"

"I'm Duck and you're really pretty," Duck said making Palimony smile even wider.

"Why, thank you. That's very kind of you," she said, a soft blush forming on her cheeks. "And you, young man?"

"Fakir," he said and got out without help. "Hope we aren't intruding. Your husband offered to…"

"It's fine. We haven't had much company recently and I'd be very glad to have you two stay for a while," she said and helped Paulo out of the boat. "Let me help you with that, dear."

She took the box of fish and started leading Duck toward the cottage.

"Oh, thank you, dear," Paulo said and shrugged to Fakir. "She might spoil you kids, just a heads up."

"Okay," Fakir said as he watched Duck walk off, helping the older woman with the box.

Paulo noticed the boy's gaze and smirked.

"She's really cute. Is she your sister?"

"What?" Fakir said, snapping out of his gaze. "Oh, no. She's just my friend…more or less."

"More or less? What's that supposed to mean?"

"No idea." He watched as Duck quickly rushed to help Palimony pick up the laundry basket but tripped and knocked the entire basket everywhere. "Typical Duck. Clumsy but too innocent to actually stay mad at."

"She usually fall like that?"

"You have no idea," Fakir said and followed as Paulo headed to the cottage with his fishing gear. "She has a very childlike personality that takes quite a while to get used to, if you know what I mean."

"Completely. I actually used be a bit more childlike myself until I met Palimony," he grinned. "Once I met her, she changed my life completely and I never wanted to be without her. It's a great feeling, being in love. Have you ever been in love?"

"Love's overrated," Fakir said and evaded his eyes from the man's.

"Oh. I guess you'll understand it all when it's you turn," Paulo grinned.

"Doubt it."

"Hey Fakir, you've got to see this!" Duck cried and grabbed Fakir's hand.

"Wha…" he tried to ask but was dragged around to the back of the house.

Duck stopped in front of a small house structure and opened a fenced in area.

"Come on. I want to show you something," she waved happily.

He was hesitant but also somewhat curious so he followed her. He closed the gate behind him and went to find Duck kneeling on the ground with about six chickens surrounding her. She was smiling and looking at each of the fluffy birds when she gestured Fakir to come closer.

"Aren't they so cute, Fakir?" she asked. "They're so soft and light. See?"

She picked up a chicken and placed it in Fakir's hands. He was a bit surprised by the sudden bird he was holding but just went with it; he was too hungry and tired to fight with Duck.

"What are they, Fakir?" she asked as she picked up a red-orange colored one.

"These are called chickens, Duck. You mean for all nine years you've lived in that circus, you've never seen a chicken?"

"Nope, but they're so adorable," she said and looked up at him. "When this all over, I want to have some chickens. Can we do that?"

"W…we?" he asked, taken aback.

"Yeah, you, me, Rue, Mytho, Altor, Pique…"

"Oh," he let out a mental sigh and continued. "Yeah, I guess you could get some chickens. But not a rooster. Those things are vicious."

"Rooster?"

"Roosters are guys, chickens are girls," Fakir explained simply, knowing making it too complicated would only confuse the bird-girl. He put the chicken down and asked, "So, did Palimony take the fish inside?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. She said I could play while she made lunch. Why?" Duck asked as she pet the bird.

"Just wondering. Come on, let's see if either of them need help," he said turning toward the gate. "It wouldn't be very good if we eat without trying to find something useful to do."

"Okay," she said and put the chicken down, standing up to follow Fakir.

They walked to the cottage side by side, unknowingly being watched by Paulo as he chopped wood, and made their way into the kitchen. Duck rushed up to her and looked at what she was doing.

"Oh, hello. Did you have fun with the chickens?" Palimony asked as she cleaned a fish.

"Yeah, Fakir said that when everything is all worked out, we could get some," she said.

"You two?" Palimony grinned back at Fakir knowingly.

"Me and our other friends," he said bluntly, looking around at the room.

It was nice, cozy for only two people and it had all the homey looking things. Some paintings, a few pressed leaves and flowers, a vase of freshly picked flowers on some shelves and a fruit bowl on a small wood table. The bowl held some apples, pears and a vine of grapes.

"Where did you get this fruit?" Fakir asked.

"Oh, we have a garden a ways up the cliff. We had to have it higher so it could get more light," Palimony explained. "Down here, we only get direct sunlight for about three hours and it's not good for plants to only have that much sunlight."

"Makes sense," Fakir mumbled.

"If you want you can have some," she said kindly.

"Thanks," he said and nonchalantly took an apple.

He never would have admitted it but he was starving and just having an apple was enough to make him feel way better than before. If Altor was there, you can bet he would have tortured him by taking the apple from him because that's what freaking brothers do. He took a bite out of the fruit and his eyes widened at how amazing it tasted. Either he was way hungrier than he thought or this apple was made in heaven.

Palimony smiled at his reaction and said, "Do you like it? I grew it with nothing but natural fertilizer and normal water."

"My god, this is way better than anything in the city," he said through the fruit. "And everything you have here you grew?"

"Yep. Paulo and I have lived here happily for many years on hard work and nature," she said. "We wouldn't trade this for anything in the world."

Fakir's expression turned a bit grim. If the Raven had his way then this canyon might also get destroyed in the Final Countdown and…these people, these amazing self-made people who are completely happy would get killed. It made Fakir get pissed off again and he took another bite from the apple.

"If you want, I could show you the garden and teach you how to make amazing fruit like that," she suggested.

"It would be nice but we can't stay long," Fakir mumbled. "We have to get back to our friends. They need our help with…stuff."

"Oh. Okay," Palimony said, a bit saddened. "Oh, well, if you want, you can always come back to visit."

"Ooh, I'd love to come back," Duck said. "I really like this place, don't you Fakir?"

"Uh-huh," he said, now leaning against the wall.

Duck looked at Fakir confused. He seemed to be acting a lot differently around these people and she just didn't understand it. Maybe his head was making him act all funny or he wasn't feeling very good. That's it. It was probably because he was hungry. That's probably why he was acting strange.

She was about to speak her mind why her stomach growled and she remembered she was also very hungry. She held her stomach and smiled.

"Oh, dear, you are very hungry aren't you?" Palimony asked and Duck shook her head yes. "Fakir, give her an apple. Lunch won't be ready for at least twenty more minutes."

"Here, Duck," Fakir said and tossed the other apple at the bird-girl.

She caught it and looked at it. She turned it over in her hands and looked up at Fakir questioningly.

"How do I eat it?" she asked.

"Just bite into it," Fakir said then raised an eye brow. "You mean you've never eaten an apple before?"

"Yes."

"That's very hard to believe," Palimony said.

"Well, actually, she grew up very…secluded," Fakir said slowly. "I should have known she wouldn't understand it."

"Well then, it's a good thing you're with Fakir, Duck, because I can tell he knows a lot about the world," she smiled kindly at the boy.

"You're smart too," Duck said and took a bite of the fruit. "Wow, this is so yummy. I want to learn how to make something this good."

"I suppose you could help me make some rice," Palimony said.

"Uh…maybe that wouldn't be such a good…idea," Fakir said uncertainly.

"It'll be fine. Now Duck, take that large pot over there and fill it half-way with water," she said, pointing to a pot with her foot.

Duck grabbed the pot and happily filled it. She then placed it over the cast iron stove and Palimony started the fire to get the water to boil.

"Now, all you have to do it wait for it to boil. Once it starts bubbling you can put in the rice," she said, handing the bird-girl a small bag of white rice. "Fakir, could you go see what Paulo's doing? I want to make sure he comes in on time for lunch."

"Okay," he mumbled and left the kitchen. He walked outside to find Paulo and leaned against a tree as he watched the larger man chop some wood. "Palimony wanted to know if you'll be finished when lunch is ready."

"I'm almost done here. I just need to take these to the shed," he grunted from the weight of the axe. "So, what's being made? I'm hungry, how about you?"

"She's making fish and rice," Fakir said, taking another bite of his apple.

"One of her specialties. Come on, why don't you take those logs to the shed with me," he said and hoisted about six of the logs into his arms. Fakir followed, carrying three logs when Paulo asked, "I may not be as young as I used to and the laws might have changed but, aren't you a bit young to be carrying a sword?"

Fakir's head shot up. That definitely came out of nowhere and he wasn't sure if there was something hidden behind the kind smiles.

"Well, no, I'm not too young," Fakir said. "This sword was passed down to me by my father. I never go anywhere with it."

"Were you close with your father?"

"I can't really remember. He died nine years ago," Fakir said, his anger getting the better of him again.

"I'm very sorry about that," Paulo said genuinely. "I didn't know."

"It's not something I usually tell the world so of course you didn't know," Fakir muttered.

"It seems to me that you are rather fond of the red-head," Paulo said, changing the subject. "I mean, the way you act around her is very…sweet. You two must be very close friends."

"We've been through a lot together, sure, but we aren't that close," Fakir said flatly.

"Okay, whatever you say," Paulo laughed.

He knew Fakir was trying to hide his feelings and it just made him remember when he used to do that. He knew that eventually, Fakir would see it would just be easier to be honest with himself than to continuously lie to himself.

They finally reached the shed and they piled the logs in a corner, Paulo standing back triumphantly and Fakir just eating his apple. He was too tired to really show interest in anything and he silently stood to the side, watching the man do whatever he was doing.

They started to make their way back to the cottage when Duck ran up the Fakir and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, lunch is ready," she said happily and pulled him into the house. She pushed him to the table and pointed to a seat. "You sit there. Palimony will sit here, Paulo over there and I'm going sit across from you. I can't wait to try fish."

She rushed off to help Palimony get the dishes when Paulo came in to see a slightly stunned Fakir sitting at the table.

"A bit more energy than you'd expect, huh?" he asked.

"Way too much. I don't think I've ever seen her like this," Fakir observed the girl placing plates on the table. "I guess she's just happy to eat or something."

"I could get used to a girl like that. So eager to learn and make others happy," Paulo said and sat to Fakir's right. "Makes me wish I had a daughter."

"You don't have any kids?" Fakir asked.

"Haven't had much time to think about that but…now meeting you and Duck, I really feel like we should raise a family," Paulo smiled and leaned back. "I'm sure Palimony would agree. How about you? Do you plan on having kids when you get older?"

"It's not what's on my mind right now," Fakir said and felt his cheeks grow warm.

He never did like discussing that sort of thing with adults and it always embarrassed him, even if he never admitted it. Duck came back holding a bowl of white rice and just as she was about to reach the table she almost tripped. If it wasn't for Fakir's quick reflexes, the rice would have gone everywhere on the floor.

"Oops, thanks Fakir," Duck giggled as he helped her put the bowl on the table. "I don't know how I keep tripping."

"You don't watch where you're going, that's how," he said and looked up as Palimony walked in with a platter of baked fish.

"Well, lunch is officially on," she smiled and placed the platter on the table.

"It looks amazing," Paulo said and took a deep sniff. "Not to mention smells amazing too."

"Duck helped," Palimony said and wrapped her arm around the bird-girl's shoulders. "She has a lot of persistence and I think she'll grow up into a wonderful cook."

"Thanks," Duck said sweetly. She then hopped into her seat and said, "Let's eat. We didn't make this too just stare at."

Paulo and Palimony laughed and they started to dish out the food evenly. Fakir watched Duck follow the food around the table and when it finally landed on her plate she dug in. If he could, he would have cracked a grin at how excited she was but…you get the drill.

As they ate, a conversation was sparked and somehow it landed on the question of how old the two kids were.

"I'm seventeen," Fakir said, "and Duck's twelve or something."

"I am not twelve," she said, acting hurt.

"Yes you are. Rue said you were twelve."

"No, she said I looked twelve," she said with a small pout. "I'm fifteen."

Fakir stopped. She was fifteen? She could not be fifteen. Why didn't she ever say anything before? He stared at her, trying to find any hint of her age but there was nothing there that said fifteen. He tried to speak again but nearly choked.

"Calm down son, it's not that big a deal," Paulo said, patting his back.

"Not a big deal?" Fakir gasped. "I've been friends with this girl for months and I just now find out she's…fifteen? How can you be fifteen? You don't look it _or_ act it. When were you planning on telling me?"

"I thought you already knew," Duck said and tilted her head as he began coughing again. "Are you okay?"

"I…I need some air," he said and ran from the table.

"I hope it wasn't a fish bone," Palimony said. "That could be dangerous. Maybe you should go check on him, Paulo."

"Yeah, that would be…"

"It's okay. I'll go check on him," Duck smiled. "He's probably just confused. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"If you say so," Palimony said and shrugged at her husband as the bird-girl left. "I wonder why he got so upset about her age."

"I think I know," Paulo grinned as he continued to eat.

His wife seemed to get the look and also smiled.

"That boy, he's just going to hurt himself," she said and also continued eating.


	28. A Smile is a Powerful Thing

Chapter 28

A SMILE IS A POWERFUL THING

Fakir ran from the house and onto the dock where he leaned, bent over, on the post, trying to catch his breath. For some reason he felt really strange about learning Duck's real age. He never thought of her as a child but still…fifteen? That was a big age difference and it made so many things way more awkward.

When she tagged along with him everywhere he went at the circus, he thought it was because she was like a lost puppy but now…He shook his head, trying to stop over thinking the situation when Duck came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around with a start to see Duck almost as surprised as him.

"Fakir, are you…"

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" he cut her off.

"Fakir, it's just a number," Duck said softly. "I never thought you were interested."

"Not interested? Do you realize how awkward I feel right now?" he asked and turned away. "I treated you like a kid. I…I said things I'd never want to be caught saying by anyone my own age and yet…and yet you never said anything. You followed me, you freaking hugged me. I can't believe I let you do that. I never let anyone hug me and for some reason I let you." He turned back to face her now slightly upset face. "What is it about you that made me do that? Why did I treat you any differently than the others?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "I didn't know I was going to make you mad and I'm sorry but…but I just wanted to see you happy. I don't understand why you're always so angry! It's not fair to do that to yourself!" She couldn't believe her own out-burst and she gasped, taking a step back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I…I should probably go now."

He watched her run off, wanting to say something, but keeping his mouth shut. He turned back toward the river and stared at the water as it rushed by, hating himself for being such a coward. He couldn't tell her what was really bugging him, he couldn't tell her that he actually kind of cared for her and that's why he felt weird with her age. She wouldn't understand. She may be fifteen but she had no concept of tell-tale signs of feelings and he didn't want to be the one to explain it to her.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the post, watching the water run past when a shadow caught his attention. He looked up and saw a large black bird fly from one dead tree to another. His body was now stiff, ready for an attack and he quickly turned on his heals to tell the others.

He ran into the house to hopefully find Duck but she was nowhere inside. Instead, he found Paulo and Palimony cleaning up from lunch.

"Have you seen Duck?" he asked breathlessly.

"No, not since she went to find you. Why?" Palimony asked.

"Damn. I think she might be in trouble," he said and ran from the house without explaining any further.

He checked the chicken coop and the clothes lines but she wasn't there. He looked back at where he last saw the crow and noticed it was gone. He made himself run faster.

Where else could she be? He stopped to get a look around when he heard her scream in either fear or pain. He raced toward the sound and soon he saw her by the river, a few yards from the house, getting attacked by a group of black birds.

"Duck!" he yelled and got his sword out.

"Fakir! Their hurting me!" she screamed and tripped trying to run back to him. The birds found this as an opportunity to attack again and they started a dive-bomb. "No!"

"Leave her alone!" Fakir yelled and jumped in the way, stopping the birds with his sword. "Duck, get back to the cottage. You need to get out of here."

"No! Stop hurting them!" she started yelling, holding her head.

"Duck?" Fakir asked, concerned.

"You're hurting her. Leave her alone!" Duck yelled again.

She was moving around on the ground as if she was in pain, yelling out random things, and Fakir did his best to keep the birds away until he could get to her.

He knelt next to her when he got the chance and grabbed her arm.

"Duck, get up. You need to get back to the cottage," he said, forcing her to her feet. "Hurry."

"But…"

"Just run! I'll be right behind you," he said and pushed her out of the way as another wave of attacks occurred. "Damn birds! What the hell do you want?"

He finished them off and followed Duck who had run into Paulo and Palimony outside. They stood there, staring at the boy and holding Duck.

"Fakir, what's going on?" Paulo asked.

"Get inside! We need to keep them away from Duck," Fakir said, his sword quickly spinning him back around to slice through another bird.

He continued running when a bird swooped down under his feet and tripped him, causing him to lose his grip on his sword. He made himself get back up but now he was unarmed and the birds all attacked without mercy. He tried shooing them away but they ripped at his shirt and hair and added more injuries to his back and arms.

He finally reached his sword and fought them off quickly. He waited for another attack but instead they all just flew off, squawking and cawing loudly. He dropped the tip of the sword from exhaustion and took several deep breathes before heading back to the cottage. He made his way inside and was quickly greeted by a joyful and frightened hug from Duck.

"Oh, you're okay. I was so afraid," she said and looked up at his exhausted face. "You got hurt. How?"

"They made me lose my sword," he said and looked down at the bird-girl very seriously. "What were you doing out there? You could have gotten yourself killed. Why didn't you run when I told you to?"

"I…I'm sorry," she said, her eyes starting to tear up. "Those birds killed someone and I…I was afraid they…they were going to do it…again. I was too scared. I'm so sorry."

"They killed someone?" Fakir asked. "Who? Do you know?"

"It was a really pretty lady. I could see her getting pecked and clawed to death," Duck sobbed. "It was horrible."

"Wait, was that a memory?" Fakir asked.

"I don't know," she said and tried to wipe her face.

"Come her Duck," palimony said softly. "Let's clean you up. That was very surprising and scary."

"Uh-huh…"

Fakir and Paulo watched the two females go into another room and Fakir sighed, collapsing into a chair.

"Are you okay, son?"

"I think Duck and I are in way more crap than we thought," Fakir muttered. "Those crows were spies for the Raven. Damn it! Why is he chasing us? Rue isn't even with us."

"I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're talking about," Paulo said, sitting across from the boy.

"Duck and I escaped from a circus. For a while we had the ringmaster chasing us but now the King is," Fakir explained quickly. "Our friend, Rue, said she was being chased by the Raven but she isn't even here so why the hell are the King's minions after us?"

"It could be because you're friends with this girl," Paulo suggested.

"I don't think so. Maybe there's more to it…ah," Fakir grabbed his shoulder. He lifted his hand and saw blood on it. "Great, more injuries. Like I needed more."

Paulo looked over at the boy, who's shirt had been ripped pretty badly, and noticed his scar like birth mark. He also noticed the blood that was trickling down his chest and got up to get some towels.

He handed the towels to the boy and smiled, "You need this. Go ahead."

Fakir slowly took the towels and mumbled a thank you. He lowered his shirt from the shoulder that was bleeding and held the cloth to it, making him wince a little. He leaned back and tried to keep his breathing calm while he thought.

Why would the Raven attack him and Duck when it was Rue he was really after? Speaking of Rue, he wondered how the others were holding up. The longer he and Duck weren't around, the more likely they would get attacked. He could already see Mytho, Altor and Femio trying to keep the girls safe but failing badly, maybe even getting killed. He closed his eyes, pretending it was pain that was bothering him, and shook his head.

Damn, why did Duck have to go falling off the cliff like that? If he hadn't saved her then the others would have easily been safe too but…that sparked another question. Why did he save her? He was the only one who made an effort to go after her but why? Was it the fact he really did have a close connection to Duck or was it because he was…

"So you're a knight?" Paulo asked, breaking Fakir from his thoughts.

"What?"

"You're a knight. I recognized the birthmark," he said, pointing to the boy's exposed chest. "I used to have a friend who was a knight but he died doing his duty. It's a very honored position to be a knight for the royal family. The loyalty and devotion that goes into the job is very envied by the people. I wanted to be a knight once but…I didn't have what it took." Paulo paused and smiled at Fakir. "I guess that's why you're so close to Duck. Being a knight gives you a natural sense of loyalty and…I can see you're very caring toward your friends, even if you don't think so yourself."

Fakir looked down at his lap without saying anything. Maybe that was why he rescued her. He had an instinctive sense of loyalty that made him want to keep his friends safe. He probably never would have thought of that if Paulo hadn't pointed it out and he was kind of glad to finally get at least one answer to _one_ of his questions.

He was about to say something else when Duck and Palimony came back in with Duck in a new yellow dress with a white sash around the waist and her face all cleaned up from the attack. She saw Fakir's shoulder injury and rushed to help him.

"Oh my goodness. Fakir, that looks really bad," she said, lifting the towel to look at it. "Ew, those birds did that to you? I never did like them. They always scared me."

"You've seen them before?"

"Uh-huh, when I was younger," she said and stopped. "Why didn't I remember that before? Huh, guess it's one of those lost memories people get. Whoa," she said when she saw the birthmark. "Did they do this to you too?"

"No, they didn't," he said and pulled his shirt closed. "I've always had that. Paulo, do you have an extra shirt I could use?"

"Yeah, sure. Of course, it will be very big on you," he said with a small grin.

"I don't care. It will just have to get me out of the canyon," he said, trying to keep Duck from touching his shoulder. "I could really care less if it's big."

"Alrighty then," he said and went to get the shirt.

"Fakir, would you like something for that wound?" Palimony asked. "I could get you some ice or…"

"That's okay, thanks, but I'll just deal with it later," he grunted slightly from pain. "Duck and I need to make sure the others are okay before I do anything else. Hopefully none of them did anything stupid, like Pique."

"Yeah, she is kinda dumb sometimes, isn't she?" Duck asked.

"Sometimes? You're kidding, right?" Fakir asked.

Paulo came back in with the other shirt and handed it to Fakir.

"Here, you can change in the other room and once you're done we can start our trip out of the canyon," he said. "It should take only thirty minutes at most."

"Thanks," Fakir said and left.

"He seems to have a lot on his mind," Palimony observed.

"Yes, he has a big responsibility toward the kingdom," Paulo said. "If I'm not mistaken, he's the last Royal Knight. I just wish there was someone who wasn't evil in the throne right now. I think he'd make a great Knight, for the right people of course."

"He already is a great knight," Duck said. "He's smart and brave and he's always trying to figure out how to keep us safe. I hope that when everything ends that he can finally find happiness and peace. He really needs it."

"I think he already is happy, he just doesn't like to show it," Palimony said.

"But why won't he tell me?" Duck whined.

"If you look closely Duck, I think he's happy whenever he's around you," Palimony smiled kindly at the bird-girl.

"Really? You think so?" Duck asked excitedly.

"Uh-huh."

"Then I'll stick with him so I can keep making him happy," Duck giggled. "He really does deserve it."

"I'm ready, we can go now," he said walking into the room with a bulky shirt barely hanging on his much smaller frame. He looked up to see the others all grinning at him and he asked, "What?"

"Come on, Fakir. Let's get to the others," Duck said and grabbed his non-injured arm happily. "I can't wait to see Rue again."

"Okay, kids. Let's get going," Paulo said, standing up. "We can get to the top before too long if we start now."

"I'm ready when you are," Fakir said.

"And I'm ready when Fakir is," Duck smiled, still clutching his arm.

Fakir suddenly felt butterflies in his stomach. Now that he knew Duck's age, things like that had a whole other meaning to him even if Duck didn't realize it. He forced himself to stay calm and not push her away for the sake of his sanity and grabbed his belt with his sword.

"I should be back within an hour," Paulo said to Palimony.

"I'll be waiting with a special treat," she smiled, reaching up to kiss him before he left the cottage.

Duck watched them kiss and silently wondered what it was. She could tell by the look on Fakir's face that now wasn't a good time to ask and kept the question to herself.

Once they left the cottage, Duck would stay by Fakir for fear of running into those birds again and as they made their way down the river, she slowly forgot about them. She watched as little fish tried to swim up river and strange spider-like bugs skimming the surface and she felt the calm sereneness of nature once again.

They were about to head up a path when Duck had a strange feeling. She started walking further down the river and when she didn't answer Fakir's call, he went to look for her.

"Duck? What are you doing?" he asked as he reached her. "We need to get out of here. This is no time for sight-seeing."

"There's something up here I need to get," she said, her voice far away.

Oh no, Fakir knew that voice all too well. She found another missing object. He just hoped Drosselmeyer wasn't the one holding it. Fakir tried to keep up with Duck as she continued walking and soon she stopped. Fakir looked around, noticing Paulo slowly following them, and wondered what Duck was looking for.

He watched her move closer toward the water and bend over, picking up the sheath Drosselmeyer had held earlier. Fakir's jaw dropped because he knew it was his. He watched, frozen in place, as Duck and the sheath started glowing and he soon felt his smile return.

Once the light faded, he gasped for breath and quickly made sure Duck didn't pass out again. She felt a bit dizzy but she didn't fall or go unconscious and Fakir was relieved. Apparently he didn't realize that even being relieved, he smiled slightly, causing a happy-surprised reaction from Duck.

"Fakir, you smiled!" she grinned. "I gave you back your smile! Ooh, I'm so happy right now."

She jumped forward and hugged him around the neck, taking him by surprise and making him snicker a little.

"Sometimes, the dumbest things can make you happy," he said, an obvious grin on his face.

Duck leaned back and smiled even wider.

"You look good with a smile," she said and blushed unknowingly. "I just knew there was something important missing."

"A smile isn't that important," he said, rather seriously.

"Yes it is. It might not be as important as talking but it still holds the key to happiness," she said and let go of his neck. "It may be simple but it still holds so many meanings. Happy people live longer, just think about that."

"Wait, maybe that's why it was a sheath," he said and took the now rather plain looking sheath from her hands. "A sheath can be simple or extremely decorated but it holds a powerful weapon. You can smile or laugh and it still gives off a strong message to people around you. You know, for an insane bastard, Drosselmeyer was actually quite clever."

"What's going on over here?" Paulo asked, finally reaching the two. "I just saw Duck glow. Did I miss something?"

"No," Fakir said.

"I gave Fakir his smile back. Isn't that great?" Duck asked, rushing up to the man.

"His smile? What's that supposed to mean?" Paulo laughed. "Did you tell a joke?"

"Nope, I gave him back his smile by touching this sheath," she said and pointed to the covering.

"No joke, huh? I guess I'll just have to take your word for it," Paulo shrugged and walked back to the path. "Come on, the top of the canyon isn't getting any closer by standing down here."

"Let's go Fakir. Won't everyone be surprised when they see you smile," she said and dragged him again.

"Whoo," he said sarcastically.


	29. Crap A Capture

Hi guys. I've punched out another chapter and boy...this one's pretty short and kinda lame. (to me at least)

So, I just wanted to say THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! XD OMG, 40 reviews. I feel so happy and some of the things you guys have said are just so inspirational that I just want to write more. Thank you again.

I know this story is pretty long and all but I've realized that it's almost impossible for me to write short stories. i always put way to much thought into it all.

Anyway, I can't wait to write the next chapter but it's going to have to be put on hold for a while due to school starting tomorrow. ;( But don't you guys worry, I will keep posting whenever I find time and you can bet I will finish this thing, even though it's taking me forever.

* * *

Chapter 29

CRAP, A CAPTURE

"Okay, we're here," Paulo said when he finally reached the top of the cliff.

He turned around, waiting for the two teens, and smiled when he saw Fakir nearly dragging Duck the last few feet. Once she reached the flat land, she collapsed to her hands and knees and laughed breathlessly at the two guy's expressions.

"That…that was way harder to do…than I expected," she panted.

"What did you expect? Stairs?" Fakir asked and helped the bird-girl to her feet. "Come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Easy for you to say," she pouted.

"Sure is," he said, and tried very hard not to grin.

"Okay kids, if you head that way," Paulo said, pointing off into the distance, "you'll soon get to the nearest town. It should take about an hour, given the good weather."

"I don't think we could ever thank you enough, Paulo," Duck said. "You and Palimony were just so nice to us. We probably didn't deserve it."

"Are you kidding?" Paulo laughed. "You two made us very happy. We wouldn't have missed meeting you for the world."

"Really?" Duck asked.

"Cross my heart," Paulo said, making and 'X' over his heart. "Now, don't forget our offer. You two are welcome back anytime."

"Thank you, Paulo," Fakir said. "We won't forget about you and I promise, we will visit you again."

Paulo smiled even wider and before either of the teens knew what was going on, he collected them both in a big bear hug.

"I sure am gonna miss you kids," he said. "I hope everything turns out well for you."

"So do I," Fakir gasped.

Paulo let the kids down, his eyes watering slightly, and he said, "Now go on. Get to your friends."

"Okay," Duck said, hugging him quickly. "We'll see you soon. Bye."

"Bye kids," Paulo said and watched the two disappear down the path toward the town.

Fakir turned back once more to see Paulo go back down the path they came and sighed.

"Is something wrong, Fakir?" Duck asked.

"What? Oh, no, I was just thinking," he said. "If we don't stop the Raven, those people will probably die. I just…I couldn't imagine them being killed. It wouldn't feel right, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," she said, her face becoming downcast with thought. "They are way too nice to get punished because of the Raven's stupid…destroying stuff. Now we just have to stop the Raven, for the people like them."

She looked over at Fakir with a big, persistent smile and laughed as Fakir chuckled a bit at her energy.

"You sure know how to make situations like that a bit less horrible," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm just glad that even through all of this crap, you still can find something to smile about."

"Of course," she said proudly. "If I didn't smile then…um, things would be very…frowny."

She grinned sheepishly, making Fakir rolled his eyes and snicker.

"Duck, you still cease to amaze me," he said.

"I try."

They walked for the hour it took to reach the town, talking about things that Duck hoped would keep Fakir smiling and he kept trying to get some sort of serious conversation out of her but, did it work? Nope, not at all. She skipped around, picked random flowers and tried to even start a game of tag but Fakir just kept walking, shaking his head and failing at hiding his grin. Now that he had his smile back, it was hell for him to try and stay serious around Duck. She somehow figured out what made him laugh and she just kept at it, not letting him get a break.

He was dying. There was nothing he could do to stop her and to be completely honest, he wouldn't have wanted her to stop. It was the first time in forever that he felt happy. He could let himself smile without turning around to find something that pissed him off. The hour it took to finally reach the city was one he was glad to have spent with Duck, even though he was never going to admit it to anyone, even Duck.

When they finally got into the town limits, Fakir had to force himself and Duck to calm down. It took quite a bit longer to get to stop cracking jokes and doing something outlandish but once he contained her energy, they made their way into the town slowly.

Now, unlike the village with Charon, this town had a good portion of metal buildings and several more people than the village. Fakir had to keep a hold on Duck, once again, to keep her from wandering off and/or getting herself into some sort of trouble.

"So…where are we going?" Duck asked, absently looking at a shop they passed. "Do we know where the others are going to be?"

"I told Altor to meet us at the first Inn he could find," Fakir said.

"But…what if we didn't make it?"

"Then he would have had to continue to find the pages himself," Fakir said, scanning the buildings.

He stopped when he finally found an Inn and they went inside to the front desk. He stopped in front of the desk where a rather large woman stood. She had large, dark eyes and her dark brown hair was pulled up in a bun on top of her head. She had a light pink dress on with an apron over the skirt and just from the way she moved about behind the counter, it was obvious she had a lot of energy.

"Excuse me," Fakir said.

"Who's there?" she said and looked at the two teens. "Oh, is there something I can get you kids?"

She had a very thick Southern accent and Duck stared at her, half in wonder and half in slight fear. She was kinda creepy to Duck but she didn't seem to bother Fakir.

"Can you tell me if someone by the name of Altor checked in within the past two days?"

"I sure can check for you kids," she said and started flipping through a book with names. She let her finger slide down the names and when she couldn't find the name, she shook her head. "Sorry, kiddies. I haven't seen yo're friend."

"Hmm," Fakir thought for a second. "How about Rue?"

"Let me see." She skimmed over the names again and again shook her head. "Nope, no Rue."

"Mytho?" Duck asked.

"Let's see," she skimmed and her face lit up as she found the name. "Yes, there was a nice young man who came in with a party of three others. They were nice kids too, except that blonde youngin. She was a bit strange."

"Leave it to Lillie to creep someone out," Fakir sighed. "Can you tell me what room they're in? We need to see them immediately."

"But of course," she smiled. "They're in room 216. It's right up them stairs and to the right. You can't miss it."

"Thank you," Duck waved as they headed toward the stairs.

The counter lady was right. It was very hard to miss because it was the only door on the right. Fakir knocked and waited for someone to answer but no answer came. He knocked again, a bit harder, and he heard shuffling and whispers inside.

"What's going on?" Duck asked.

"I don't know," Fakir shrugged. He knocked harder. "Hey, guys, it's us. What's going on?"

They heard gasps and a squeal from the girls and not long after the door was thrown open by Femio.

"Mes amies," he said and pulled Fakir into a hug. "We were so worried. We sought zat you were taken by zee beeg black birds."

"What? What do you mean?" Fakir asked, pushing himself from the French boy. "What's going on?"

"Rue and Altor were taken away by the crows," Lillie said. "Not at the same time, mind you. I was afraid that they might be after me and Pique again but…we weren't so lucky."

"Wait, Altor? Why was he taken?" Fakir asked.

"We don't know," Mytho said, stepping forward. "We had just reached the town when Drosselmeyer came in and took him."

"Drosselmeyer?" Fakir then looked at Duck. "The hoover board."

"What about it?" Pique asked.

"Drosselmeyer tried to take Duck but when we got away…he must have taken the hoover board," Fakir said, his face now frantic. "The Raven probably wants him to make more hoover boards then he's going to kill him."

"How do you know that?" Lillie asked.

"Because that's what he does to all the inventors!" Fakir growled. "Once their use has been used up, he kills them. That bastard is going to kill my brother!"

"What's going to happen to Rue?" Mytho asked.

Everyone looked at Mytho.

"Is…is she going to be okay?" he asked.

"She's the Raven's daughter, who knows what he'll do to her," Fakir grumbled, running his hand through his hair. "Look, we need to find those pages before the Final Countdown but also before Altor and Rue get killed. Did you find any information on those pages before they were taken?"

"Uh…I sink I heard Altor talking to a man about an auction at some house where zee pages might be," Femio said. "I only heard part of it zough."

"Do you remember what house?"

"Non, but Altor would know," Femio said put his hand to his forehead dramatically. "I am so very sorry. I am no good. You should just leave me, I am of no use to you."

"I wish," Fakir mumbled.

"Fakir, we need to go get Rue and Altor," Duck said, gripping his arm. "I…I don't think I could ever…live without knowing Rue's okay. Please, she's like my sister."

"I know Duck but it's too dangerous," Fakir said. "We wouldn't even be able to get in past the front gates."

"Not unless we use the map," Mytho said.

"Oui, but Altor had zee map with him when he was taken," Femio said sadly.

"We could always use Pique's powers," Lillie said happily.

"There is no way in hell I'll trust Pique's powers to work until she gets her elegance back," Fakir said.

"Fine, be that way," Pique pouted and crossed her arms.

Everyone stood there, thinking, and no one knew what to do. As the silence grew, Fakir started rubbing his injured shoulder and it became unbearable for him to think.

"Okay, so, we can't use the map or Pique's powers, what other choices do we have?" Fakir asked, making everyone look up.

"Um…" everyone thought for a while.

"We could just walk up to the gates and get captured," Lillie said.

Everyone stared at her like she was crazy (which she is) but once Fakir finally understood what she said, he thought that maybe it could work.

"She might have something. If we can create a diversion, maybe someone could sneak into the castle and rescue Altor and Rue and get out before anyone knows what happened," he suggested.

"Who would make the diversion?" Duck asked.

"Pique and Lillie," Fakir said. "The King is already kinda pissed at them and if Pique wreaks havoc with her magic then someone could get into the castle. But who will be the real question. Duck and I are already on Drosselmeyer's kill list and Pique and Lillie already have their jobs, so that leaves Mytho and Femio."

"Moi?" Femio asked. "Non, non, non. You must be joking. I cannot go into a castle and be rescuing someone. I am incapable."

"Too bad. You're the only one that the King and Drosselmeyer don't know," Fakir said sternly. "You're the only candidate."

"Actually, I think that maybe someone should go with him," Duck whispered. "He doesn't exactly keep his mind on one thing."

"I know but what other choice do we have?" he whispered back. "Drosselmeyer knows Mytho and even he doesn't quite think correctly. Who knew your heart is also connected to your ability to think?"

Fakir snickered and Duck smiled. What they didn't know is that everyone was staring at them now, well, mostly Fakir.

"What?" he asked.

"Am I seeing things or did you just smile?" Pique asked, walking right up to him.

"Uh…" he stepped back due to how close she had gotten to him.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you guys," Duck giggled. "I found Fakir's smile. That's what was taken from him."

"SO zat's why you were so mad all zee time," Femio smiled, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, whatever. That's not the subject of discussion right now," Fakir said and pushed Pique away. "We need to figure out how…"

Suddenly a scream was heard from the lobby and everyone stopped what they were doing. They looked at the door and Fakir was the first to race from the room to see what was happening. He stopped at the top of the stairs where he saw a large group of the Raven's soldiers ransacking the place. The counter lady had grabbed her pistol but it was quickly knocked from her hands.

The soldier grabbed her and asked gruffly, "Where is the girl with feathers?"

"W…what?" she asked, frightened.

"The girl with feathers, where is she?"

"Uh…up…up stairs," she stuttered.

Fakir quickly pulled behind the wall as the soldier started to head up the stairs and he tried to think. What to do? They were on the second floor and the soldiers were everywhere, how would they ever get away without getting hurt?

Well, it seemed it was up to him again. He grabbed his sword and raced back to the room.

"Guys, on my signal, you need to run down the stairs as fast as you can," he explained quickly.

"What's going on?" Duck whispered nervously.

"Raven's soldiers. They're everywhere downstairs," Fakir said. "Apparently they're looking for you Duck. Okay, a soldier is coming up right now. I'm get him out of the way and you guys get out as fast as you can. Mytho, Femio, try to keep Duck hidden."

"Okay," Mytho said.

"Oui, of course," Femio said.

"Okay, wait just one more second," Fakir said as he watched the soldier march up the stairs. He got to their door and when he went to up it the rest of the way, Fakir jumped out and knocked back against the wall. "Go, go, go!"

The teens ran out of the room as Fakir stayed to fight off the soldier and he was able to finish him off fast enough to get down the stairs just as they reached the front door. They almost got ambushed by the soldiers outside but Fakir got there in time. He kept them back as the others ran down the street and soon he was following them closely. After about a minute of running he lost sight of the others.

He slowed down a bit, which was a pretty stupid move on his part, and seconds later he felt a cloth get put over her mouth and nose. He tried to get the man off of him but the strange, sickly sweet smell from the cloth made Fakir's world spin and he soon went unconscious.

The soldier laughed as the boy fell to the ground and two more came over to check on their pal.

"Looks like I just caught the toughest of them all," the first soldier snickered. "He wasn't so hard, not to mention, he's a shrimp. Look at him. He's so skinny. How is he the 'big' threat to the King?"

"You do realize he's a Knight, right?" the second soldier asked. "That's why he's so tough. The guy has fighting in his blood."

"So? He's still a shrimp," the first said.

"Just tie him up and let's get him back to the King. Maybe he'll give us some time off for catching these stupid kids," the third said. "I don't even see why they're such a big deal. They're just kids."

"But like I said, this 'kid' is a Knight," the second said. "All these kids are probably something like it to have the king so bent-out-of-shape."

"Whatever," the first said.

He had tied Fakir's hands behind his back and his feet together and then tossed the young Knight over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They headed back to their group of horses where the other kids were being thrown into a portable jail cell. Duck saw Fakir being carried first and she gripped the bars.

"Fakir!" she cried. "What have you done to him?"

"Shut up and sit down," a soldier said, pounding on the bars in front of her.

"Come on, let's get these brats to the King," another soldier on a horse ordered.

Fakir was tossed into the cage and all the other kids rushed to his side. Duck thought they had killed him but once she saw his chest heaving up and down, she felt a bit better.

"Femio, what's going to happen to us?" Lillie asked quietly.

"Je ne sais pas," he sighed. "I don't know, Lillie. I just don't know."

The rest of the trip to the castle, the kids spent in silence, hoping that nothing too bad was going to happen to them. (Ha, yeah right. This is the freaking Raven we're talking about. Something bad is definitely going to happen. Oops, spoilers?)


End file.
